A Belt That Fits
by Found Antimony
Summary: It isn't easy specializing on one Pokemon Type, or so I've heard. Birds, Psychics, and Ghosts are the first problem. The second problem is me! Can I, a Goldenrod wimp, really become a Fighting Type Master? K-Kiai! Rated T for violence.
1. Life As We Know It

The setting Johto sun… It was something beautiful, that's what all travelers thought. It made Goldenrod City even more golden than it already was. The buildings were cast aglow, and people marveled at the day's end. You could hear most residents of Goldenrod City running back home, coming home to their family and friends. It was the city that _did_ sleep when it was supposed to. Crime was very low, even considering Goldenrod's mass amount of people. But the young population was often insecure, and made others suffer. That was the side of Goldenrod not many adults and people in general, paid attention to.

The young Trainers exploring the city to challenge Whitney, the Gym Leader, came to the Pokémon Center to rest for the next day. Some were winners that day, others lost their challenge. Other, however, were lost _themselves_ in the huge city. Goldenrod was constantly praised for the sheer amount of people and Pokémon inhabiting it. It held a department store, which boasted a large selection to even rival that of Kanto's Celadon City. Trainers also would spend hours looking for the rather poorly located Bicycle Shop, looking for a faster mean of transportation. The Global Terminal near the coast was something that most Trainers would look forward visiting as well, to communicate with all Trainers anywhere. The Magnet Train ran across Goldenrod, and went towards the east to Kanto's Saffron City, connecting our region to theirs. The largest cities between the two regions connected by one Magnet Train was a very interesting accomplishment, considering that one had to go by boat around the whole coastline of both Johto and Kanto to reach here and forth.

_My_ favorite part was National Park, though. Mars and I would take a walk around the large and extravagant fountain the middle of copious amounts of grass around. Of course, this was my favorite pastime. But this wasn't just mine; it was almost _everyone_ that was around my age. So _of __course_, I was challenged to a lot of battles. And they weren't too pretty… The point being, being wimpy makes you easy prey.

"Looks like Sebastian lost eleven battles today? I don't even feel like I'm getting a gain here, I'm heading home. His Tyrogue is getting weaker, right? It's not that my Snubull is getting stronger, of course." The older boy, the leader of the group of boys who ambushed Mars and me, began to walk away. And typically the rest of the boys began to follow. Until one of them noticed me giving Mars two Potions, restoring him back to full health. I gave the command right away. It was their blind spot that I needed to take advantage of. I wasn't going to let them get away with this _again_.

"Mars… use Tackle!" I commanded him. Mars charged quickly and hit the boy's Sentret, who didn't put up a good fight before, and needed the help of the leader's Snubull to take care of him. It fell backwards, looking worse than it did a good ten minutes ago when the assault began.

The other boys quickly noticed the counterattack, and sent out the same Pokémon that took out Mars previously. Mars was barely good at one-on-one combat, but ganged up like this… A Caterpie wriggled up a Tackle, knocking Mars off balance. A Nidoran used Poison Sting, which hurt, judging from Mars' expression. The same Sentret then began a fury of Scratch. A Snubull soon came back for a Take Down, knocking Mars far into the tall grass. His Trainer, the leader of the pack went up to me. I glared at him, and he did the same. We were even in the hateful stares department.

Or at least until he punched me in the face, knocking me back. He soon gave the permission for the rest of the goons to do the same. Just like last time. I was being humiliated _again_. Kicks and punches were both evenly distributed. And no one would come to help me. Except for the last person I wanted to see right now. This was history repeating itself, like fate. The punches and kicks were lessening down, and I was hearing the other boys shouting commands. I hazily looked over near the fountain, and saw what was going on. Not that I needed any more reminders.

"Jiggly, please use Hyper Voice!" A girl, older than me, commanded her soft looking pink Pokémon. It easily knocked back all the Pokémon in the opposing side with strong shockwaves of its loud vocals, and looked like even a few of the boys were slightly deafened.

It was expected from my sister, but it didn't make me feel any better. The opposite, actually. The boys began to run away with their knocked out Pokémon, leaving me behind. She looked at me with a concerned expression.

"Are you alright?" She asked me. It was that concern that bugged me the most.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just peachy." I spat. I was getting up, look for Mars, then walk home. I wasn't going to take some of my sister's kind words of advice today. Maybe some other day, sure. But I had steam to blow now. I guess she understood my mood, and went home by herself before I even went into the grass looking for my fallen partner.

He looked pretty banged up. Would probably take a half hour at the center, at least. I wondered if I'd be able to train a little more. I took out his relatively new Pokéball and returned him. I walked the length of Route 34, through a good part of Goldenrod, before stopping at my destination, the Pokémon Center to heal Mars. I was off the healing time too. I looked at the clock in the room. It was almost nine, a full hour after I arrived. My family would be having dinner right about now, and my sister would be telling them why I would be late to join them. Pretty embarrassing, but it couldn't be helped. They were playing a crime show on the television. The serial killer a.k.a. monster of the week was an arsonist that had OCD with the number three. I liked these shows. It gave me the hope that all bad people can be chased down and stopped. Made me feel like I would get strong and do the same thing too. If only Mars and I were a little stronger, right? Right as the next show began, Nurse Joy called out.

"The Trainer with the Tyrogue, he's all better now!" After retrieving my Pokéball from her and giving her my gratitude, I sent out Mars immediately. He looked angry. I figured at me, but he wasn't ignoring me, like he would when he was upset with somebody. I knew he wasn't mature physically or psychologically, but still. This was different than usual pouting. Then I noticed that he was staring hatefully at his small body. Now this was worse, in all honesty. It's one thing that you feel depressed yourself over self-esteem, but I guess I drew the line that night when it started affecting Mars, too. He must have thought his scrawny body was the issue with his strength. It was disheartening seeing him hate himself.

"Look Mars…" I began. I was going to try and give a cheesy motivational speech on how we would better next time, even though I knew it wasn't the case.

But then I thought of something as I looked over the television again for lessening the increasingly tense moment. The weather was on, reporting that tomorrow was going to be sunny and even hotter than today. Today was Friday. And then the date clicked in my head. I was amazed I didn't think of this before. This meant tomorrow was the perfect opportunity to go do my daily stroll at National Park. And not just any stroll. Catch a Pokémon to help train with Mars. And beat the bullies. And even beat Whitney the Gym Leader. Heck, I could beat the whole world if I got a strong Pokémon. Simple logic, I thought. Mars still looked down, but I put my hand on his shoulder.

"We're entering the Bug Catching Contest tomorrow, Mars! And we'll get you a training buddy. We'll all become the strongest, beat Whitney, and then all those boys and their Pokémon that are always mean to us, okay?" I grinned. He looked confused, but I think my enthusiasm got to him. Which was an understatement, since I was feeling phenomenal.

"Ty!" He said, putting his fist up in the air. I was happier that he got into the mood.

This was perfect.

* * *

><p>I woke up the next morning, ate breakfast, and avoided both my parents and my sister. I didn't want to disappoint them by letting them see me after my beating yesterday. That said, I felt some bruising in my legs and chest as I made my way out of the apartment building, but I kept walking through Goldenrod with Mars at my side. They would be starting soon, and I still needed to register. And I would need a lot of time to find the best Pokémon there.<p>

No Caterpie. No Weedle. None of those weak Bugs that even Mars can singlehandedly beat. I wanted a strong, prize worthy Bug that would help me win battles, and let Mars train hard. Like a Pinsir. Or a maybe even a Scyther would be great. I shuddered in anticipation in winning the first place prize for catching one. This was it. Everything would get better for me and Mars today.

This was my first of many master plans I had in mind, but _of __course_, the first one to fail.


	2. Big Expectaions

"Hey sis? Why did you stop being a trainer? I thought for sure that you and Jiggly would make it all the way to the league!" I said in a curious voice. I knew that Isidora had everything to become huge and strong and take on the league. And I always thought that I knew what was going on her mind. So _of __course_ I was shocked when she refused to be an open book this time.

"I just got tired of it, you know?" She faintly smiled. "I just got into a bad losing streak, no big deal." She continued. She continued to drink her coffee. "Out on the road makes you miss this." She began to drink once more. Jiggly and Mars were both eating their food on the table we were eating at. Not particularly paying attention to us.

She had six badges out of the eight League Badges, just missing out on the Storm and Rising Badges. I just didn't understand how she couldn't keep going. And I knew she wasn't feeling up for telling me. Not today. But I thought to myself, '_if __I __became __a __Pokémon __Trainer, __I__'__d __never __quit __half __way. __I__'__d __make __sure __to __have __a __complete __journey t__hat __would __make __me __feel __proud __of __myself_'. Suddenly, I had the resolve to finish the journey for my sister. And make a journey that I'd remember for the rest of my life.

* * *

><p>I thought we'd never outrun it. Mars was gasping for air too, in my arms. But in his defense, he was really taking a lot of hits, and I was proud of him for many things that day. I think we ran over a few miles by the time it got tired, probably. But I realized we weren't anywhere near National Park anymore. I never traveled too far from Goldenrod, and I realized were in uncharted territory. I looked around to see if there were any people around. And looked and <em>looked<em> around.

"Mars, I think we're lost.

* * *

><p>I registered like any contestant would. Since I only had Mars with me, the attendant didn't have to hold any other Pokémon, since they only allowed one Pokémon per entry. I looked at my picture at the screen. I was wearing the biggest grin I had, it almost made look scary. It was the picture of when I first registered to become a Trainer, even though that was a little over a year ago. I realized I still had the same haircut from back then. My sister told me with my short black hair, and that scary smile, I looked like a Houndour. I planned on catching one, just to bug my sister about it, since she hated canine Pokémon. Not even a cute Growlithe could stop her from screaming.<p>

The attendant gave me Sport Balls to catch Pokémon with. There was still ten minutes left until the actual competition would start so, I started talking to Mars about the battle plan.

"Alright Mars. Here's what we're going to do when we find a strong Pokémon. You will get its attention by using Fake Out. Then it'll begin to give chase, right? Well that's when you run and make its back face me. That way, I can throw one of these Sport Balls at its back, and it'll be too stunned to break free. Got it?" I asked him if he understood my instructions. He nodded at me. Then I decided to look around the competition at the registration office. A bunch of kids both older and younger than me filled the room. Some were doing the same thing, prepping their Pokémon, while others were just casually talking with other contestants. I saw a few of the boys from yesterday, too. I met eyes with the boy who's Sentret Mars attacked, and he glared. I nervously shifted my eyes away. There were some girls who were giggling to themselves over some other girl who was being forced to enter with them, albeit hating Bug Pokémon. It was kinda of funny.

The Attendant used the loudspeaker to quiet the chatting Trainers, and it worked faster than I expected. He went over the rules of the Contest, that the one contestant to catch the strongest Bug Pokémon wins. If your Pokémon faints, it's game over for you, as well if you run out of Sport Balls. It was pretty self-explanatory.

_I could do this, I know I can. _

The Attendant ranged a bell, and opened the doors to the park. All of the trainers ran to the park's grass, hoping for a strong prey right away, including Mars and I. But instead, I ran into a Paras, who was beaten fast by Mars' Fake Out and Tackle. I thought that was a good start, but I still wanted to find a Pinsir or a Scyther. Those were the key Bugs in this competition. I kept looking. I thought I faintly saw something, _large,__green_, with _sharp__scythes_. I walked over in that direction, but I wasted a good 15 minutes searching.

"Okay, that makes three Caterpie, two Weedle, two Venonat, and a Butterfree. Makes perfect sense, why would we find a _cool_looking Pokémon?" I sat down on the grass, getting annoyed now, and I think I was getting to Mars. He went up to me, and I expected a nice pep talk to keep sear-

Instead he gave me a Tackle.

I was shocked, and he was looking straight at my eyes. Mars was being violent now. Or rather, he didn't want me to give up? I wasn't sure.

"Ty! Tyrogue! Rogue!" He began yelling, jumping. I had no clue what he was saying. He stopped suddenly, though, looking around the grass.

And there it was. The boy with the Sentret was battling a Scyther. And as I expected, the Sentret was not in good condition. The fierce Mantis Pokémon was tough, all right.

The Sentret got up, and began for a Fury Swipes at full speed. But it was just not fast enough, nor powerful enough to stop its Quick Attack. It looked like it hit Sentret quite hard, and knocked it out.

"Sentret, no!" The boy said, returning the rodent back to its Pokéball. The Scyther went towards the boy, looking menacing. He stepped by, and saw me looking at the scene, before smirking with a plan. He just realized something to get away. He grabbed something out of his Bag, and found some sort of berry, from what I could see, and threw it at the Scyther. Almost instinctively, it sliced the berry in two, but some of the juices got splashed on its skin. It tried to get it off by using its scythes awkwardly, but it only spread the thicker looking, red liquid, which seemed to infuriate it. I noticed the kid running off then, leaving me alone with the Scyther. It was covered in the berry's red juice. It was _pissed_. And looking at me and Mars.

I ran with Mars as fast as I could. I recalled then that the berry the boy threw was a Tamato Berry. A red berry. Then the next thing that I realized was that Scyther hated the color red. It just couldn't stand looking at the color. So there I was, being chased by a lethal Bug with the intent on killing us due to somebody else's getaway plan. Life wasn't fair yesterday. Even with today supposedly being the best day, so why would my luck change? I gave up running soon after, even with the Scyther gaining speed and shortening the distance between us. Mars was getting tired too.

"Sorry, Mars. I-I couldn't catch a training partner for you to get stronger with. We won't be able to beat Whitney today. We won't be on our way to beating those guys and becoming the strongest… _I__'__m __so __sorry._" I almost choked on those last words. But this would be it. I wouldn't outrun this homicidal Bug. I wouldn't get to say goodbye to my family. I'd be a _wimp_ while dying too. Mars looked at me, worried.

"Hey Mars, you can make it. I'll distract it, and you run. It's not nice to make your Pokémon pay the price with you." I said, trying to die as a tragic hero. Even to just Mars.

And he Tackled me for the millionth time that day, and instead of saying anything this time, he just glared at me. And I tried realizing what Mars, my Tyrogue, was meaning. To this day, whatever he tried saying, I don't even remember, but he managed to protect me. Giving up my life to a killer Scyther just wasn't practice anymore. And I realized how he was the best Pokémon in the world, and how much I didn't deserve him.

So I got up, just as the angry Scyther approached. It was still pissed, but I looked at it still, challenging it. Mars got in front of me, raring for a battle. Whatever happened, we'd do this _together_.

I decided to go first.

"Mars, use Fake Out on the oversized Bug!" I commanded. And he put his hands together to let out a shock wave to stun the angry mantis.

"Scy! Scy Scy!" It cried. Its eyes were wide for a second, before retaining the murderous glare it had before. I flinched a little, but Mars stayed strong. This was going to be long battle, I thought to myself.

_Oh __wait, __I __have __Sport __Balls. _I slapped myself. I could throw one, and escape. It would make a good cover, and I'd get out of here. We were out on the edge of Route 35, I realized, from a Blue Apricorn Tree I spotted. I took one out from my bag, and chucked it at Scyther. It soon turned into red energy, and got into the ball, before enclosing itself.

And it shook. I guess I decided to see if it would actually get caught. It shook again. And once more it shook. I could hardly contain myself; I just caught the Scyther that tried to kill me.

But my fantasy shattered when the ball broke opened, and the giant mantis was even _angrier_. It used a Quick Attack on Mars first off, and sent him flying into a tree. But Mars quickly got up, and ran towards the Pokémon, using Tackle. Now Mars' endurance was astounding me. Where did he get so sturdy? Unfortunately, this didn't mean that Mars' attacks were doing much. The Scyther was just knocking Mars back hit after hit. In fact, I think it go so annoyed with Mars that it began to get mad even though its wings now. They were glowing with anger.

It then was going to use a Wing Attack, I realized. Which was the worst thing that could happen to Mars.

"Mars, get out of there!" I yelled. This might be the end right here, if Mars gets hit. And he did. It looked not just painful. I could see myself going to Nurse Joy and finding out that he broke a few bones during this fight. And then he'd get taken away from an unfitting Trainer. Then I'd be alone.

Oh god, I was scaring myself selfishly. And I guess life likes tricking me. I saw something that I never thought was possible.

Mars was still standing, even from a super effective Wing Attack. He was wincing in pain, breathing hard, but he was still standing. That gave me enough resolve to throw another Sport Ball. It hit, and the Scyther went back into the ball. I didn't even want to see if it worked this time.

I scooped up Mars, and ran away from the site.

Far.

Just far enough to get away from the Scyther. Just far enough to get away from the bullies that made daily life hard on Mars and I. I was getting away from danger, at the time, but symbolically speaking, I was running away from Goldenrod. I didn't realize how far I ran until I didn't see hide or hair of the Scyther.

I thought we'd never outrun it. Mars was gasping for air too. But in his defense, he was really taking a lot of hits. I think we ran over a few miles by the time it got tired, probably. But I realized we weren't near National Park anymore. I never traveled _too_ far from Goldenrod, and I realized were in uncharted territory. I looked around to see if there were any people around. And looked and _looked_ around.

"Mars, I think we're lost." I laughed.

"Tyrogue…" Mars sighed. I think he was relieved to escape that maniac Bug. I know I was.

I soon spotted a sign out.

_Route 36: West to Goldenrod City, East to Violet City, South to Ruins of Alph, North to Ecruteak City._

I say a rock and decided to rest with Mars, just for a little. It was starting to get late in the afternoon, and I didn't want to worry my family. I'd just return back later in the day, forget today happened, then go back to being a wimp. A self-loathing wimp. I started to lie down on the cold path.

_If __only __I __had __a __Pokégear_…

"Hey kid, do you know how to get to Ecruteak from here?" A voice asked me.

I turned to see a big, muscular martial artist, also known as a Blackbelt, towering me. It took me a second to reassemble myself.

"Uh, if you follow the path of those trees over there to the north, I think you should be able to reach it through Route 37 by nightfall, I said. The summer days are really long, so five or six hours didn't seem off to get there from here." I explained to the man.

"Thanks. I'll be going now." He bowed at me. Must have been the Blackbelt thing to do, I guessed. He then looked at Mars, who was resting from all the injuries he got.

"Is that your Tyrogue?" He asked me. I nodded, slightly embarrassed due to all the bruises Mars had. Didn't make me look like a good Trainer, now did it?

"It looks like you two had a rough day for training." He said, scanning the both us.

"You have no idea…" I sighed. I was going to go back soon, anyway. And sleep in my bed. And wake up to the unchanged life I always had.

"I've raised a few Tyrogue, so I know what it feels like. Yours doesn't know any Fighting type moves, does he?" He asked me. And I soon realized he was correct.

Mars only knew Tackle, Fake Out, and Helping Hand (whatever that did). He had absolutely zippo Fighting moves. How horrible. I was astonished.

I nodded at him, slowly, and shocked at this.

He then started fiddling around his bag he had over his shoulder, and withdrew a disk. It was a Technical Machine or TM for short. Those things were expensive, that was for sure. The Blackbelt tossed it to me.

"This is Rock Smash. It's the only one I have that can really help out your Tyrogue. I'm taking a wild guess, and you haven't faced Whitney, right? Well, I think you should be able to beat her with this move right here. Rock Smash makes the opponent weaker, so it gives you an advantage in longer battles." He instructed. "Unfortunately, this is an HM; Hidden Machine, not TM, so it'll be much harder to forget, in case you get stronger moved. It'll be a miracle to forget Rock Smash. Unless you have a professional at making Pokémon forget moves, though." He continued. It was a lot of instructions to follow. But he was right. I never faced Whitney, even with a Fighting Pokémon like Mars, because he didn't have any attacks to back him up. Maybe now I stood a chance.

I looked at the HM. This could substitute for the Scyther I could have caught.

Maybe my Master Plan wasn't _ruined,_ I though.

"Th-thank you so much!" I exclaimed. This wasn't just gratitude; it was something I could never repay. This was hope given to me from a total stranger.

"Ever thought about becoming a Fighting type Trainer?" He asked. "Tyrogue are a nice Pokémon to start with. A favorite among Blackbelts." I had absolutely never thought about that. I was hoping for a strong Bug Pokémon, and then catch other Pokémon in a balanced type order.

"Wouldn't that make me easy bait for Ghosts, Birds, and Psychics?" I asked. Now I was wondering how he was doing it; traveling with all Fighting Pokémon.

"I think you know this from your own Fighting Pokémon…" the Blackbelt gestured at Mars, who was up and paying attention to us, "Well, they're hardworking, persevering, and they refuse to back down." He finished. This was true. Even if he was outnumbered against bullies' Pokémon, against a sociopathic Scyther, or even a self-degrading Trainer like me, Mars has always been loyal and would never give up for my sake.

Maybe I should give Fighting Pokémon a chance. Maybe their hardworking attitude would rub off on me. _Maybe __now __I __can __stop __being __a __wimp_. I can make myself proud. This was newfound courage. I had an official goal.

Then I remembered my sister. Doubt crossed over my mind.

_If __these __Fighting __Pokémon __were __hard working __and __all __those __other __things, __where __would __I __stand? __What __if __I __couldn__'__t __take __it __and __dropped? __Maybe __they __would __be __too __much __to __lead. __I __don__'__t __particularly __see __myself __working __as __hard __as __them. __Would __I __just __get __tired __and __quit? _I thought.

The Blackbelt saw my doubt.

"Fighting Pokémon also care very much about their partners. When they all feel like they belong in the group, they make sure no one gets left behind, not even their Trainer. They'll just expect the same thing from you. Are you up for that?" He asked. Suddenly, this was a huge decision for me. It was a chance to change.

Yes! I mean, yes I can!" I shouted. There was no reason to doubt myself here. Mars didn't doubt me before. I can at least make sure that I can do this for Mars' sake. He grabbed his bag, tightened the top, and hung it over his shoulder. He turned and began talking, without facing me.

"If you really want make sure are up for this, go head on with the Goldenrod City Gym. You'll have your answer if you challenge it. And with that, I bid you farewell." And so he began walking towards the north, leaving me in the crossroads of Route 36.

"Th-thank you…!" I yelled. I never managed to find out if he heard me or not. It was then it dawned on me that I never got his name. Now I felt incomplete. I had a goal. I had an aspiration. I had confidence growing. But I might never find out who my motivator was.

_That__'__s __sad_. I thought to myself. Still, I looked at the HM.

"So Mars, you want to do this? Want to help me train Fighting Pokémon?" I asked him, holding out the HM; Rock Smash. If he accepted, the HM is right here, ready to teach its move.

* * *

><p>We walked back home, around sunset. Well, scratch that. We walked towards the Gym. It'll be my first test if to give me a concrete answer if I can do this or not. I soon approached it with Mars right by my side. I healed him up at the Pokémon Center, and we were both ready for this. Luckily, none of his injuries were severe, and he was patched up rather quickly. Maybe Fighting Pokémon healed faster when they were motivated. I know I was emotionally healed now. We were up against the door, ready to push our way in.<p>

"We can do this, Mars. You ready?" I asked, not really meaning it; it was just for reassurance on my part.

"Tyrogue!" He replied, positively. I pushed the door, to find a bunch of ladders, high platforms, and many paths. There were a bunch of women around with their Pokémon, adoring them endlessly. One of them spotted me. This girl was different from the other woman. She was considerably younger, but surer of herself, judging from the grin on her face. She wore a plain white shirt with red outline and blue shorts.

"You here for a battle, honey? Hey girls, isn't his Pokémon a cutie?" She asked, while the other women were squealing at Mars. I wasn't here for much adoring, but it looked like I had no say in the matter. _I __just __wanted __a __Gym __Badge_!

"Yes I am. My name is Sebastian." I responded. If I wanted to become a Fighting Pokémon Trainer, best to follow Blackbelt etiquette, right?

"I'm Whitney, the Gym Leader. Pleased to meet ya!" She said. She kinda of reminded me a little of Isidora. She guided me to the main battlefield. There was a referee there too. She was just doing her nails, though. She looked surprised when she noticed Whitney and I as we made our way to the opposite sides of the stadium. The battlefield wasn't too difficult to work with, though. It was plain dirt, it seemed. Off the sides were a few bleachers, where the other ladies went to sit on.

I guess it was a real Gym Battle. I shuddered.

"We're really doing this, huh, Mars?"

He smiled brightly at me. He was ready. The referee looked ready to announce the rules.

"This will be an official Pokémon League Gym Battle between Gym Leader Whitney and the challenger Sebastian! This will be a two-on-two battle and only the challenger may substitute during the match!"

Two-on-two. I only had one Pokémon. Whitney had two. I almost fainted right there. I couldn't say now that I only had Mars on me, right? Would that disqualify me? I didn't have the nerve to ask. Mars seemed to vaguely understand my unease.

"Ty! Rogue! He said, grinning proudly. He was trying to tell me that he could it by himself. I think he was anyway. I was never too sure what was going on his head when he talked to me sometimes.

"Alright, go Clefairy!" Whitney yelled, releasing her round, pink, and fluffy Pokémon. It looked a lot like Isidora's Jigglypuff, that's for sure. Probably just as strong, too.

"Mars, y-you're up! You can do this!" I said. I don't why exactly I was nervous. It was my first Gym Battle, and would be testing my future. I don't think Mars was nervous. I decided to go first, due to knowing what my attack was to start the battle.

"Mars, Fake Out!" I yelled out. Mars went to the Fairy Pokémon, and clasped his hands together to create a shock wave similar to the one on the Scyther a bit back. The Normal type stumbled backwards, and we had secured our first move, immobilizing hers completely. "Good, now use Rock Smash!" And Mars did, punching Clefairy out with intense power. It was an actual Fighting move, and looked great on him. It didn't knock Clefairy out, though.

"Clefairy, use Attract!" she commanded the counter attack. The Clefairy now winked at Mars to release multiple hearts that surrounded Mars, just to infatuate him. I face palmed then. We were working hard, just for this to happen. My Gym challenge could right now with the wrong move. "Now Mars, use Rock Smash! You're just being fooled by her cuteness!" I tried to snap him out of it, fruitlessly. He was just immobile as a flinched Clefairy against the previous Fake Out.

"Looks like your Tyrogue just can't resist my Clefairy's infinite charm! So now, Clefairy, let's start our endless roulette! Metronome!"

My eyes widened on the move. Metronome is a move that randomly changes the Pokémon's memory to allow it to use any move. That meant that it could be a move that ends us right away. _Now__I__was__ready__to__just__give__up._The Clefairy then wiggled its fingers back and forth repetitively, and soon shone out a bright light, which affected Mars somehow. I had to cover my eyes from the light. When it faded away, I saw that Mars was relatively unharmed.

Instead, my shock was that Clefairy was knocked out instead. Whitney's face looked upset as she retuned her. "Clefairy is unable to battle!" The referee announced, holding a flag towards my side.

"Well, that could have gone better!" She laughed nervously, putting her arm behind her pink hair mareepishly. "Oh well, here's the real battle! Go, Miltank!" She took out another Pokéball, her second and last, and tossed it to reveal her pink cow. Its blue eyes stared into her opponent's. Mars still looked tough, even the cow was obviously bigger.

"Alright Mars, use Rock Smash!" I shouted. I had no other choice. This was my best bet on winning.

"…" Mars said and did nothing. Nothing at all. In fact, he had a perplexed look on his face, like he just couldn't pull of a Rock Smash. Whitney's face brightened up.

"Oh, that explains it! Clefairy used Memento! She fainted to take out your Tyrogue's Rock Smash, good going!" She took out her Clefairy's Pokéball, and instead of bringing out her fallen Pokémon, she kissed its Pokéball and returned into her pocket. I couldn't say anything.

I was ready to throw the towel. Mars had just lost access to the move that made all the difference. I only had Tackle left, and that would barely scratch Miltank. I had no other moves to think of using. I just lost all possibilities of winning. Heck, I almost withdrew Mars and ran away. But Mars still charged with the Tackle. The Miltank was surprised at the sudden move.

But she just decided to yawn it off, grinning at Mars tauntingly. "Alright Miltank, Stomp!" Whitney shouted. And soon enough, Mars was under Miltank's hooves. And it looked hurtful. Mars got out slightly pained, but his sturdiness shined again as he stood up valiantly. But Whitney then called for a Rollout from her Miltank, sending Mars flying.

And flying. And flying some more after each Rollout.

Mars would get up every time, though. And I just watched hopelessly at the situation. I couldn't bear it anymore.

"Mars, stop! You can't win! Get over here before you get really hurt!" I tried to recall him desperately. But with no avail and he just avoided his Pokéball. After a few seconds of silence, he turned around to face me, and ran over to me, like I hoped.

And Tackled me instead of listening further.

"Ty! Tyrogue rogue!" He began again with talking a tongue I couldn't understand. I tried my best to guess what he was saying desperately.

"…You want to continue? Really? Mars, you're just going to get hurt!

"Tyrogue!" He yelled directly at me, looking straight into my eye. And then I got the message. We were in this together when we arrived, but now I was the only backing down, while Mars had to struggle for the both of us. I felt pathetic now. I didn't just lose faith in Mars, but I felt my own faith slip. And that wasn't fair for Mars, who's been working extremely hard to win.

Fighting Pokémon Trainer? Me? Maybe I didn't have what it takes, but I can't back down on Mars. It wasn't fair for him.

"Mars, keep going, I believe that you can do it." I smiled a bit at him. I had to bring up both of our confidence to win this match.

"Sorry, Whitney." I looked at her apologetically for pausing the match.

"It's okay, we all get down sometimes. Just keep moving forward, you know! But I'm afraid this is the end of your Tyrogue, so you'll have to keep going forward together some other time. Miltank, one final Rollout!" she called. I wasn't going to back down.

"Mars, grab it when it comes at you!" I yelled frantically. This may or may not work, but I had to try, for Mars. And he did grab. But then Miltank's force increased, and gave Mars trouble of holding it up. He winced in pressure. Sweat going down his body. Too many scratches to count. I'm not going to waste all Mars had done for me prior to this battle. I won't.

"Mars, don't you dare give up! We're in this together, right! So give it everything you got, for the both of us!" At the moment, I gave all my encouragement I have ever had in a battle to Mars. He grunted loudly and began to move Miltank back a fraction of an inch. A miracle.

Soon, a light emitted from Mars' body, and brightly too. _Is __he __learning __a __new __move_? He yelled out even louder now, and the light became too bright and knocked Miltank back. Whitney, the spectators, and even the referee were astounded, while the light subsided.

I was amazed at Mars. He was no longer a scrawny, purple Pokémon. He was now brown, had a tunic, and sported _big__red_ _boxing__gloves_. I almost stumbled down. A Hitmonchan.

"Chan! Hitmonchan!" He cried, looking at his new body. I didn't know what say. Anything I'd say would be able to amount the indescribable feeling of accomplishment I had that moment. Still, Miltank wasn't totally phased, and went for another Rollout to finish Whitney's command. It was coming faster, and harder than before, most likely from sensing the new opponent's power. She went right past Mars, only to keep rolling and eventually falling on her side seconds later, visibly defeated. With one, invisible attack.

Neither Whitney nor the referee managed to see it, but I did, even if only slightly. Mars threw a punch. No wait; more than that. In a single second. It hit Miltank fast, and defeated her with intense power and speed.

"U-uh, Miltank is unable to battle! Victory goes to the challenger, Sebastian!" The referee announced, slightly taken back. Whitney soon pouted and withdrew her fallen Pokémon.

"That battle was really unexpected, I'll say! I'd cry over it, but I'm still shocked, for your information. A sudden evolution? Really?" She laughed. I nervously laughed along, both of us walking towards the middle of the field where Mars stood alone and victorious. "But as a Gym Leader, I've gotta give up this Plain Badge. Take it; you two deserved that one for sure!" She said, reaching into her pocket and presenting me with a Gym Badge.

There it was. The fruit of our labors. I gladly took it, and showed it to Mars. He looked at the symbol rather strangely, but looked happily at my expression. I breathed fresh air when we left the Gym. I noticed it was pretty dark, and I grabbed Mars' glove and starting running back home at full speed. Mars soon let go, and started running ahead of me, leaving me to run faster to catch up. Even though we've never ran so much in one day, I didn't care about my legs hurting. And was because of one thing.

We were victorious today.


	3. What Revenge?

"What do you think Dad's getting us this year, Isidora?" I asked. Every year our parents would gather up their money for gifts. Sure we had Christmas to look forward to, but this was our family tradition. Our holiday. It didn't have a name, but we made sure to observe it quite faithfully.

"I saw something about the breeder's convention under his desk's keyboard, so… I think its Pokémon Eggs." She replied. If we had a sneak contest, my sister would win every time. There was very little that you can hide from her, and she'd go looking for all kinds of evidence until she found what she wanted. If it was anyone else but my sister telling me this information, I wouldn't be sure if they were telling me the truth.

And I was ecstatic. That meant Pokémon. I was ten at the time, and my sister was just almost twelve later in the month. Sure, she was never really in the mood to have Pokémon to travel with, but I sure did. And now, we'd get our own Pokémon to take care of, and become best friends with… Life was going to rock, I just knew it!

Dad came home a little later in the day. He had two wrapped boxes; one blue, one pink; and set them on the table in the living room. We came running down like small children (which we were, arguably) and lunged at them. We took out two containers-incubators, each with a Pokéball mounted on top. But the most incredible part of the gifts was inside the incubator, in the form of an Egg. Mine was a shade of purple that was on the light side, while my sister had a pink egg with a swirl on top. They were vague looking, and that's probably how my dad wanted them. We would spend a lot of time guessing around, wondering how they would grow up to be, and how we'd be friends. It was nerve wrecking. We hugged Dad tightly, and Mom just looked at the scene happily.

* * *

><p>My family spit out their coffee when I showed them my Plain Badge in the morning.<p>

I got back home rather late, and I was too sleepy. I returned Mars right when he got tired from our running (I was even more tired, mind you), and walked towards home just to eat some leftovers and go to sleep in the blink of an eye. Or Mars' Mach Punch. I think Mars was faster.

I woke up late too, and found my parents and sister eating breakfast. I casually sat down, got some waffles out, poured myself a cup of lemonade. I was the weird one who doesn't like coffee, taste or smell.

"You're not taking Mars out, honey? We've been worried since we didn't see you at all yesterday, you know." Mom investigated, while drinking her coffee, copying my dad and Isidora, who both were eyeing me suspiciously. Isidora really liked the idea of growing up, and she drank a lot of coffee to match. I sighed and fished for Mars' Pokéball out of my pocket. I didn't release him just yet. Instead, I drank my cup of lemonade.

And also took a certain Plain Badge out and put it on the table, sliding it to the center with my finger. Cue spit take of three different coffees. Isidora started choking, and Dad had to pat her back for her to calm down. She settled down right afterwards, though, looking mad about something.

"Hey, what are you doing with **my** Plain Badge? Did you **seriously** go into my room?" She demanded. Uh-oh. She misunderstood. I had to play this one cool, though.

"What are you talking about? You don't believe that your younger brother can't be as talented as you and win a Gym Badge?" I said smugly.

"Not with just Mars you can't! It took me _ten__whole__tries_ with Jiggly to beat Whitney, I'll have you know!" My sister argued back. _And __I __beat __Whitney __on __my __first __try_, I thought. My parents just looked at us. I looked at Isidora, and then to my parents. This was the moment of truth. I took out Mars' Pokéball from the table, and threw it.

Mars came out, and was greeted to the wide eyed stares of three people in disbelief. I soon remembered Hitmonchan were taller than Tyrogue, and realized it was impractical to have him sit on the table with Jiggly, so I went to grab an extra chair and placed it next to mine.

My parents were shocked. Isidora even more so. And I played everything cool, like a champ. Hitmonchan let out a 'chan' before sitting down.

"Oh my god. He actually evolved into that." Isidora said. Her eyes widened some more when it hit her. "So that really is your badge!"

"Real and present." I winked.

I finished my breakfast in a classy manner with Mars, while everyone else cleaned up the large amounts of coffee on the table, without a word from any of them.

* * *

><p>To my parents, I was going out on a stroll to National Park like usual, just with Isidora. To us, though, we were planning how I should go about during my planned journey on the top floor of the Department Store. I was leaving tomorrow morning.<p>

"So you want to… _train __**Fighting **__types_?" She asked me with great emphasis on the 'Fighting'.

"Yes, and don't try to change my mind. I already went over all the cons… and they don't outweigh the pros here." I said, adamantly. I wasn't going to back down on my choice here. I already went over it with the Blackbelt, and my victory against Whitney only made me surer of it. I was going to help Fighting types reach their potential as a Trainer. On the flip side, they would make me stronger. And uh, less wimpy.

"Alright then… So you'll have trouble with Morty of Ecruteak… Falkner of Violet… and maybe Bugsy from Azalea. But I guess it's an okay tradeoff for being strong against Jasmine of Olivine and Pryce of Mahogany." She continued thinking. "You know where you can find Fighting Pokémon?" She asked me. I stopped sipping my drink.

I didn't. In fact, I didn't even think about it. Isidora took my lack of movement for a 'no' and sighed.

"Seriously? Geez, you're hopeless." She sighed again, even louder. Then she began to think. She looked at me. "Okay, Machop you can find out in the mountains by Ecruteak, and I've seen some Poliwag in the ponds in Ecruteak too, come to think about it…" She pondered. I looked at her weird.

"Poliwag are Water types, though. Why would I need one of those?" I asked. I mean, was she just joking here? She now was looking at _me_ funny.

"Poliwag stay purely Water type even when they evolve into Poliwhirl. But… With a Water Stone, it gains Fighting as a secondary typing as a Poliwrath. " She winked. I was pleasantly surprised at that. "Chuck of Cianwood beat me too many times to count just with that Poliwrath.

_Alright, __so __Hitmonchan, __Machop, __and __a __Poliwrath. __Half __of __my __team __was __right __there. __They __were __near __Ecruteak, __though, __and __Ecruteak __has __a __Gym __for __Ghost __Pokémon. __That __meant __that__'__s __where __I __should __go __first __even __with __a __complete __disadvantage. __My __other __option __would __be __Violet __City,_I thought.

"Oh wow, your second Badge is going to be pretty tough earn! It's either Violet, or Ecruteak. But Ecruteak is my suggestion, since you can catch more Pokemon there." She exclaimed, looking at me. "You sure you're up for it?"

I was. I'd leave for Ecruteak tomorrow morning.

We spent the rest of the day preparing my bag to leave. She told me that our parents wouldn't be surprised, seeing that Mars had gotten stronger, and so did our resolve to travel. We packed a lot of bottles of water; plenty of healing items, a few revives… I tried packing one lemonade… or three, but my sister hit me on the head when I opened my bag up. Mars laughed.

"No way, just the essentials. Those cans can take up space for three potions, two water bottles, or even an escape rope! So, drink it now, but don't make that mistake like I did. Did you remember how much coffee I brought along just to throw it out a few days later?" She added. She really did know what's best for traveling, I couldn't deny it. Even if it was just learning from her mistakes. I laughed.

I thought about it then. What mistakes would I make? Would I learn from them? I sighed and thought one last thing.

Would someday somebody else learn from me? Would I _ever_ be the teacher for somebody starting out? I guess my sister must have been feeling that her journey was worth it, teaching me what to do and what not to do. I was a little jealous there.

I took one last stroll through National Park later that evening. I walked around with a backpack, getting used to the heavier weight. Had to get used to it now, I thought. I felt a little slower, but I could manage. We got a lot of useful things at the Department Store, all essentials, so I didn't have the option on cutting down. But there was one _bigger_ _reason_ why I wanted to go through the park.

'_It __was __like __a __scene __out __of __a __martial __arts __movie, __with __Mars __as __Jackie __Chan. __He __was __beating __all __the __bullies__' __Pokémon __with __flash __punches. __Mars__' __laughed __at __the __Sentret __he __sen t __flying, __as __well __as __the __Snubull __he __sent __all __the __way __into __the __fountain. __The __Caterpie __from __before? __Somewhere __out __on __Route __34. __Yeah, __Mars __sent __it __flying __all __the __way __through __Goldenrod._ _It __was __amazing, __if __I __said __so __myself_' I thought.

Yup. That's what I was going to be telling everyone in Goldenrod when I was through with the bullies. No, it _wasn__'__t_ sad that I just practiced my awesome victory speech. That's what I had hoped would happen.

But no, and the universe does like to screw up beautiful plans. Especially screw up mine. The boys that usually spent time in front of the fountain weren't there. I did see, however, a rather large, brown haired woman with a Granbull and Snubull, though, sitting on the fountain. She noticed me.

"Oh, hello! Sorry, but Charles is out sick today, and I guess his friends didn't call you that they cancelled their plans today. So instead, I decided to stay around and give Bumbles a walk here." She gestured at the Snubull by her, who was clearly resting. It woke up after hearing its name, and started barking loudly with anger when it sensed my presence. The woman looked surprised. I wasn't. It was the leader's Snubull. It was the leader that well, led the boys against me. No wonder why the Snubull wasn't particularly friendly towards me. And if anyone but the boy's _mother_ was there, I'd take out Mars to give a fast Mach Punch to its face. Instead, I got blackmail material in the form of naming a Pokémon Bumbles. Which was good enough for me, concerning the circumstances.

The woman soon noticed something, and came to the right conclusion about Bumbles.

"Are you… Sebastian? Because I overheard my son saying that Bumbles doesn't growl like that unless you're around." She explained. Bumbles didn't look very much pleased, and went over to play the Granbull I assumed was the mom's. I guess they were right.

"I guess it takes after your son, then." I said with a bitter laugh. That's right. I was going to open up slightly to my enemy's mother. She looked at me confused. Then we looked out to another battle that was going on nearby. And then she looked back at me.

"What do you mean? Does Charles not like you?" She asked sincerely. And I guess I had no reason to believe that she was in on it. The bullying.

"Well, if liking me means leading his friends to beat me up and my Pokémon daily, then no. You son likes me _very_ much." I said sarcastically she thought about my response for a while.

"I'll make sure to talk to him about it. He has to have some sort of issue to do that to others…" She said, now worried. It was expected by this seemingly doting woman. Too bad it was needed. I saw the fight nearby heat up, literally, with a Magmar using Lava Plume on another trainer's Persian.

"Sorry to say, ma'am, but I'll be leaving tomorrow morning. I'm going to travel with my Hitmonchan. So, uh, tell your son that I'll be out of his hair." I explained. She looked sad that she wouldn't be able to make up for my bullying.

"Oh my… I wish you have a healthy journey then. I apologize for Charles an-"She was cut off by a frantic Persian, whose tail was clamped tightly by Bumbles jaws. She screamed for Bumbles to get off, to no avail.

That was my chance. Even if I couldn't get revenge out on the Charles, or the rest of them before I left, I could at least give this one last impression. I took out my Pokéball, and was about to send out Mars to give an accurate Mach Punch to knock out the Snubull. But the Magmar was too fast and quickly took it out with a Flamethrower. Did I mention it was a clean cut, too? Only knocked Bumbles out, and the matched continued. The leader's mom went to pick up the fainted Pokémon.

"Oh dear… This is why you shouldn't be mischievous like that, Bumbles!" She lightly scolded it, before being returned into the Pokéball. There went my opportunity. Maybe revenge was just not meant to be in my case. Not really the greatest feeling in the world, where you couldn't give payback, but I'd deal with it. I've dealt with everything pretty nicely so far, right?

"Sorry, but I better take him out to the Pokémon Center. I don't think my son would appreciate me letting him get beaten like that." She said softly. I guess she must have felt guilty. She then returned her Granbull, who had been sleeping, even during the commotion.

"Oh, it's okay. I need to finish getting everything ready for tomorrow." I replied, and she took that as a cue to leave. Sure, I had to cross out 'revenge' out from my 'getting ready' list, but whatever. I won't count it as regret before I leave. I was going to count it as my first lesson, first moral, if you will. I took out a journal, a new one I bought while my sister left to look for clothes. Not for me, mind you. She was still a 13 year old, young and still self-centered.

"Alright, moral learned. Number one: _Don__'__t __plan __revenge. __The __universe __does __it __for __you._" I said out loud, writing it into my Journal. I had a few pages for the morals I'd learn over my journey. This way, I can teach somebody who'd listen. It'd be something nice to think about while out on the road.

I got home much earlier than yesterday, that's for sure. And I came back to see a surprise gift on the counter. It was for me, from my parents. It wasn't wrapped, but it looked like they had planned to. In plain sight was a new Pokégear, shiny and blue, just waiting for the user to input their information, and register other's phone numbers. Soon, a Jigglypuff was soon thrown at my face, drawing me away from my present.

"No! You weren't supposed to see that!" Isidora yelled at me. I took Jiggly off of my face, and threw her back at Isidora, where she landed softly, and slightly mad from the sudden scene game of catch, yelling a few "Puff Puff!'" at us. Isidora then began apologizing fast, and rocked her Normal type Pokémon. Funny, too, since the same puffball beat so many Gym Leaders last year. I was kinda sad when she felt like the family pet, alongside the rest of Isidora's Pokémon when quit training. She only had four, though.

"Well, I'm sorry I looked at something out in the open in _my __own __house_." I groaned. I know it should have been a surprise, but come on. A puffball like Jiggly hurt more than you'd think. Balloon Pokémon my foot. Or maybe I needed to work out more, I'm not sure.

"Mom and Dad got this for you in the morning, and I was in charge of wrapping it… They'll like kill me for ruining the present!" She moaned.

"I didn't see a thing." I said. I mean, I should be grateful that I'm getting the Pokégear, I wanted one since it came out in a new design. I shouldn't ruin the moments of the day right before I left.

That night, my parents came home with groceries, goods, and other things they usually did on Sundays. My parents had normal positions in Silph. Co, and managed normal hours and normal pay. They gave me a box during dinner wrapped by a certain sister, _and__what__do__you__know_, it had the Pokégear. I had to look surprised and happy. I ruined the surprised part, but I over did the happy. After all, I got a new Pokégear! My parents gave me a sheet of paper with the numbers I should know, in the case I lost my Pokégear. I dreaded the thought of that happening, but still, I thanked then.

Isidora tapped my shoulder, and gave me a small blue bag. It was small enough to fit in my normal backpack and not take up any room, but it was bigger than my pocket. I opened the top.

I found my Plain Badge, and two Pokéballs. One black with blue spots, one green with red stripes.

"These are…?" I asked, holding the Pokéballs. I knew it was my badge, but the pokéballs…?

"A Heavy and Lure Ball. I still had them from when Kurt gave me them. I figured that they've done enough time collecting dust in my shelf, so consider them a little gift." She winked. This was really a going away party. I was really leaving Goldenrod City.

"Thanks. I really mean it." I said softly. And I couldn't have been any more grateful that night. I let Mars out of his Pokéball and let him sleep in my room, next to me. When he was a Tyrogue, he felt like a small child. But now, I guess were going to be companions throughout this journey. Oddly enough, I slept pretty nicely that night. I guess I had just passed the age where you couldn't sleep the night before you actually traveled as an _actual _Trainer.

* * *

><p>That morning went as usual. Ate breakfast my parents, took a shower, brushed me teeth, etc. Next though, broke my habit. I checked all my supplies just to make sure. I tied the smaller bag Isidora gave me on the side of my normal backpack. I'd use it to store my badges. All eight of them would eventually stay in that little bag. Then I'd take on the Pokémon League eventually, right? I'd make sure to.<p>

When Isidora left on her journey, I was waiting for her to come back and tell me how the Pokémon League went, how she felt, what she learned from it… I wanted to feel the experience radiating from her.

I was disappointed when this wasn't the case. And so I was going to have cover that part by myself with my own team.

I gave my goodbyes, hugs, and kisses to my family. They wished me the best, and I didn't want to disappoint them. And so I left behind a crying mother, a sentimental father, and a hopeful sister. I hoped myself that I can come back accomplished.

We passed Goldenrod City, Mars and I, pretty slowly. It was the last time I'd visit in a while, I though. First we passed the Bike Shop .I thought about having a bicycle to cut my traveling time shorter, but I decided against it. Was I really going to cut my training time too? Spending more time walking and training on the road with Fighting type Pokémon seemed more reasonable. So I walked by it without looking back.

I looked out to the Radio Tower in the distance, right next to the Global Terminal. The Radio Tower was a nice place to visit, but my Pokégear came with a built-in radio, so I wouldn't miss much of the music they played. As for the Global Terminal, would I really have a reason to go there in the future? Maybe arrange some battles, sure. Other than that… not really. I looked once more, before finishing my trek to Route 35. I walked passed every day to reach National Park, but there was never anything too interesting that's I'd miss. So I passed it without thinking too much. Mars let a yawn a few times, too. He didn't think much of this Route either, I supposed.

National Park was pretty nice today. I don't know who won yesterday's Bug Catching Contest, but when remembering the Scyther… I decided to wipe it out from my memory completely. Mars looked particularly happy walking here. It was here that we could say faced our biggest struggles. The bullies wouldn't come out until later on in the day, but even if they did bother us, Mars would give them seconds thought about it. That's right. Mars was strong now. Maybe not the strongest, but he packed more punches than before.

"Hey, Mars, you think we'll be battling the boys and their Pokémon anytime soon?" I asked him. I didn't expect much of an answer, honestly.

"Mon." He shook his head. Well, that meant he didn't know, didn't really mind, or just didn't care altogether. We continued our stroll. Or actually, our exit. I looked at the fountain again. I always thought it'd be nice to have a battle with the fountain there. A good one too, not a one sided gang up. I sighed, thinking that day would be far away, but I kept walking side by side with Mars.

"Route 36… Mars, no turning back now, now let's start our journey." I said. Mars looked at me and grinned. We'd keep going along the very same path of trees I told the Blackbelt to follow yesterday.

To the north, Route 37, and then Ecruteak City.

To catch a Pokémon.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, that's it for the (boring) home chapter. Next chapter, we actually move forward! But he will come back to Goldenrod, so don't think it's out of our system just yet. Major thanks to RuningWitSizorz <strong>**for reviewing the fic so far, and I'll be really happy to see some more reviews too, since they do make feel motivated to get chapters done. **

**P.S.: I'm looking for a Beta Reader to help me eye any errors, inconsistencies and the like, so please PM me if interested! Reading chapters earlier to find mistakes? Nice trade off, right? ;D**


	4. Sleep My Child

Mars hatched exactly two days after Jiggly (named Iggly at the time) did. And they were… not as helpless as we made them out to be, being babies and all. Iggly was a loud Igglybuff, and she easily won Isidora's heart over. Mars was something I hadn't expected. A Fighting type that looked pretty tough… was pretty cool. He was quieter than Iggly, but sneakier. He'd disappear all of the sudden, then just come up behind me a few minutes later. I dreamt of training him to evolve, and win battles. Isidora on the other hand, though, just took Iggly out shopping all day, every day. She didn't once mention traveling the Johto region as Trainer, even though we both applied for our licenses after I got Mars, just so we can legally have practice battle rounds at National Park. Even so, Isidora wasn't so interested.

Which made everyone spit out their coffee (and lemonade) the morning Isidora announced that she wanted to finally go out and travel with Iggly. And not only was I shocked, but upset when she said she didn't want me traveling with her. I mean, sure, traveling with your sibling is usually last resort, but… She told my parents that I wasn't up for it yet. Which stung, because I knew that Mars wasn't so strong. But I kept telling myself that I'd show her up and become stronger.

The day she left for Violet City to earn the first Badge in the circuit was the same kind of day I left Goldenrod; parents crying, me trying to be supportive, and so on. And the next time I saw her was when she came from Route 34 down south after earning her Hive Badge from Azalea Town.

* * *

><p>It was around noon by the time I started my trek on Route 37. This was the first real Route I felt like was really the beginning of my journey. The trails of trees confused me a little, but I soon got the hang of it. I mean, one wrong turn, and I'd be back to the beginning. Or maybe find my way back to Goldenrod. The path was misleading, for one. I told the Blackbelt to follow the trees north… But maybe I just got him lost. On the bright side, Mars wasn't tired.<p>

I checked my Pokégear, and it was already seven, though the sun's lower position hadn't really worried me yet. Just yet. And I knew that I was just starting to get through the route. This meant I misled the Blackbelt when I told him that it'd take five to six hours. Mars was having a blast beating down any wild Pokémon that came our way, though. We were both just gaining confidence that Mars was stronger than those Stantler, Growlithe, and heck, even some Pidgeotto. A Rock Smash followed by a Mach Punch always did the trick.

I faced two Trainers on that Route. One of them was just a rookie thinking they were great just because they beat Falkner in Violet City and challenged us seeing Mars. Mars sized him down with our match easily, and he went back running to the east to heal up a Wooper and Mareep. He probably was going to go challenge the Azalea Town Gym after that. And I soon had the moment that most Trainers didn't really pay attention to. I had won actual prize money from a Battle. And most of it was probably from his Violet City Gym challenge. Maybe it'd be really easy to take down Falkner, even with a disadvantage with Fighting Pokémon. I won the Plain Badge, and since it was the third Badge in the official circuit, the first two couldn't be hard. Not with Mars anyway. Mars was enjoying himself the whole time, practicing his fast punches on any Pokémon that bothered us. If only I came upon a Fighting type sooner, though. I felt shaky when I had to challenge two of Whitney's Pokémon with just one. And the Ecruteak Gym Leader was going to be tougher than her.

The other trainer was tougher than the greenhorn. And yes, I was a greenhorn too. But at least I wasn't an arrogant one, right? That's what I kept telling myself. But this was even harder, because this one had a Psychic Pokémon with him.

He looked like he was coming from around Goldenrod too, and with a Drowzee, I was scared. It'd be my first match with a direct disadvantage. The boy was wearing a teal colored trench coat, and never looked at me in the eye, even when he was talking directly to me. Actually, the whole encounter was bizarre.

"You are a trainer, are you not? I'd like to battle." The boy said. He looked around my age, give or take. He came out of nowhere, and he challenged me out of nowhere too. And his eyes were pointing at my general direction, but they never looked once directly _at __me_. His speech was off too, like he was being either really stuck up, or polite.

"Okay, I only have one Pokémon on me, so is a one-on-one battle okay?" I told him. He nodded, again without looking at me.

"I am okay with that. Remy, go on." He gestured out his Drowzee to take the field. I did the same to Mars.

"Mars, you got this!" I encouraged, and Mars shouted a "chan" while coming in between the Drowzee and I. My first Psychic showdown. I told Mars to use Fake Out, and like always, caused the Drowzee to flinch. Fake Out was the first move I can make sure to use first in any situation. The boy gave his Drowzee a sharp look. But again, it was just to the general direction, and not at the cringing Psychic Pokémon.

"Mars now use Mach Punch!" I commanded. And it hit fast and hard from my view, but definitely not enough to defeat his opponent. The boy didn't look affected by the hit, and neither did his Drowzee.

"Remy, use Hypnosis." The boy said quietly. I hadn't seen anyone look so emotionless while giving a command, and it felt cold. The Drowzee quickly ran up to Mars, to look him in the eye. Mars soon stopped his movements and fell down, asleep. Which was bad. Really, really bad. "Mars, wake up, wake up!" I shouted repetitively, hoping to get some sense into him. But he laid there unresponsive, and the boy smiled.

"There's not point of doing that. Only it can wake up from Hypnosis. Your yelling isn't really going to help him through this." He paused and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth.

"Now, Remy, Dream Eater." He smirked.

The Drowzee yelled, and shot some sort of red energy at Mars. The energy soon enveloped Mars, and began its damage. Mars screamed while sleeping, but didn't wake up. It was a super effective hit, and soon ended after Mars stopped screaming. From the name of the attack, I guessed that Mars had its… dream eaten by Psychic type. Mars didn't look knocked out, though, and his sturdiness was even shining through with special attacks. Still, he looked very much pained. So I tried calling him to wake up again.

"Mars, please wake up! You can win this if you can just wake up and defeat that Psychic!" I yelled. I wasn't desperate. I just needed Mars to hear the sound of my voice, no matter how futile the Drowzee's Trainer thought it was. The boy began smirking to himself, and Mars was still in an unresponsive state. Looks like we were going to lose this match now.

"Remy, finish off that Fighting Pokémon, _it__'__s __just __no __match __for __Psychic __Pokémon_." The boy suggested. And those last words were the one that struck me. I'm not going to mention the fact that the boy showed emotions (albeit rather sadistic ones) for once. What got me was the fact he just told that I am going to be defeated by every Psychic Pokémon I encountered. No matter what. It was the law for Fighting types to lose to Psychic types. All he said was a sentence. But to me, this now became a test for training Fighting Pokémon. And that just upped my will to prove him wrong. To prove him wrong, and pass this test. I wasn't going to back down here. And now I just needed Mars to be right by my side.

"Mars, we're _not_ letting a **Psychic** **type** bring us down, you hear me? I know for a fact that you don't want to lose either, and that's why all I'm asking you is to _wake __up_ and beat them!" I shouted. The boy glanced over and had a face of '_it__'__s_ _useless_' but then he quickly looked at Mars, shocked. Mars was… opening his eyes. And he then slowly stood up. He got back into his battle position, and turned back to give me the most fitting fighter's _'__I_ _got_ _this_' grin before looking back to our opponents. I did too. The Drowzee was looking back fiercely at us. His trainer was glaring. He was frustrated. He missed my eye but looked at me.

"Did… you just say you were going to beat a Psychic with a Fighting type? Don't make me laugh! The mind of Psychics **must** **always** **be** **superior** to the brute strength of a blockhead Fighting Pokémon! If I lost, then I'd have no right to call myself a Psychic! Remy, use Hypnosis and put that _stupid_ _fighter_ back to sleep!" He shouted. And I grinned. The supposed calm and collected boy was losing his cool and began to resort to petty insults. That was a good chance to take him out.

The Drowzee began running at Mars once more, but I saw it coming already. It needed to look at Mars in the eye to use Hypnosis effectively. So I began my counterattack. "Mars, use Rock Smash on the ground! Kick up some dirt at it!" I shouted. This was my best chance. This Drowzee relied in the Hypnosis-Dream Eater strategy, and this was how I was going to break it apart. Mars did so, and punched the ground at an angle to hit the Drowzee straight in the face. It winced in the stinging pain and tried wiping its eyes, with no avail, its Trainer clenching his teeth.

"Mars, Mach Punch it until it's down!" I gave the last command. And I visibly saw around four Mach Punches. Which meant around fortyish hits had been dealt. More and more punches were thrown at the defenseless Hypnosis Pokémon, and I wasn't going to call off Mars to stop. And soon enough, the Drowzee collapsed. Mars breathed heavily before groggily walking back towards at me. He was exhausted. I took my Pokéball, and returned him for some well-earned rest.

"Thanks Mars, you were awesome." I returned the ball into my pocket. Then I looked at my opponent still glaring, even while retuning his fallen Pokémon.

"**Blockhead**, we'll meet again, and I will make sure to put you and your Hitmonchan back where you belong; **below ****Psychics**. I hope you enjoy yourself when I bring about your end." The boy announced. He took out a Pokéball and another yellow and brown Pokémon came out. I recognized it as Kadabra. They both looked at me with needles, and I went for Mars' Pokéball, just in case they were going to start something.

Instead, the boy told his Pokémon to use Teleport and bring him back to Goldenrod City.

And I had another victory under my belt. Wait, correction; _Mars_ _and_ _I_ had another victory under our belts. And I knew that we can begin to hold our own against our biggest problem that we were most likely going to face; Psychic Pokémon.

* * *

><p>We kept on walking for another half hour before our legs gave out. Plus, it was now really getting dark. I took out a sleeping bag and took out a lighter to begin a fire. Mars helped out collect wood after I got him a Super Potion to make sure he was good to go from our pretty intense battle. In the back of my mind I knew that the Blackbelt from before must have spent a whole day or so traveling through here, opposed to the five-six hours I told him. That made me feel a little guilty, but then again, I wasn't expecting to meet up with him any time soon.<p>

I opened a small bag that had a few sandwiches my mom had prepared for my journey, and I was grateful for that. Because I was _starving_. I laughed at how much we walked today without break. I thought I'd take a rest, but Mars wanted to keep going further. But now Mars was next to me, tired as I was (probably more since he actually fought), and eating some sandwiches and drinking water. I got plenty of Pokémon food for the road, but I figured Mars deserved a treat. And Mom's sandwiches were going to have to be for the both of us.

* * *

><p>The sky looked fantastic. I only have seen the sky being so clean on occasion when Dad would take me and Isidora out far to Route 34 and look at the stars. Far away from the big and bright Goldenrod City. The memories began to fill my head as Mars and I ate quietly. The last time we headed out to Route 34 with my dad and Sister, Mars and Iggly had just hatched, and I needed a good name for my Tyrogue. That night, my dad had gotten a telescope for us took at the stars with for the first time. Isidora just looked at the moon the whole time, and Iggly was really interested in it just as much.<p>

"The most famous sightings for Igglybuff and Jigglypuff are right on the outskirts of Mt. Moon in Kanto, you know? And they get to look at this moon with much more feeling than us, Isidora. "Dad told her.

"It's so pretty! Here, Iggly, you like it too?" She asked her small puffball. It cried a few 'puff' and cuddled up to my sister. It was a nice, heartwarming sight.

"Sebastian, you want to take a look now?" Dad asked. And I was looking forward to finding a UFO or Legendary Pokémon in space or something else that was big and meaningful. I was disappointed when all I saw were just stars, though.

"Dad, these stars aren't really interesting… They all look the same!" I told him. He laughed in a fatherly way that he even does today. My sister giggled and started to play with Iggly, under the moon.

"They're not all the same, son. Some are further from us, other are closer to us… some are different colored, and some are bigger than others… They're like people, Sebastian. You can't say they look all the same, right?" He lectured me. And I couldn't disagree with that, because I didn't. I looked at him and decided to give the stars another chance. I looked through the telescope, and started looking for some interesting stars. Soon enough I found a start that was slightly bigger than the rest of them. Sure, it was way smaller than the moon, but it was a star that stood out to me. I called my dad over to look at it. My Tyrogue too went up to it to look while I did. Tyrogue looked fascinated and went back to me, and my dad took a look through the lens of the large object. He stared at it for a good while.

"I don't think this is a star, Sebastian. It's slightly redder, and looks much closer to us. I'm going to say that is has to be the planet Mars… Nice find, kiddo!" he exclaimed. Tyrogue went back the telescope to look at it. I kinda knew what planets were. After all, Earth was a planet, and we lived on it. But I never really thought about other planets. Still, Dad said that it was a good find. I did find something special out in the telescope, just like I had hoped. I looked over at my nameless Tyrogue looking through the telescope, even though he was much smaller than the object. Mars, huh? A special name for a special Pokémon; my first Pokémon.

"Tyrogue…" he turned away from the telescope to look at me. "How would you like to be named Mars? Isn't it such a cool name?" I asked him. He looked at me and gave me a wide grin, and nodded.

My special Pokémon named after the special planet that I viewed under the telescope that night. Mars the Tyrogue. Dad and Isidora thought it was a good name for him, too.

* * *

><p>Mars and I finished our meal, and went to sleep. It was the first night out on the road, but it was a clear night and we were far away from the bright city lights. I knew that Mars didn't sleep for a good hour later. It was alright, because neither did I. And it was because we both gazed at the night sky for the longest time before calling it a night.<p>

I set my alarm on my Pokégear to go off early in the morning, so we can get enough distance in the day. That's what I had hoped, but it just didn't work out as well as I hoped. I was still not used to waking up early, so I did the classic 'give me five more minutes' before. But those five minutes soon became almost an hour. Mars noticed how I was lazing around, and gave a nice Fake Out to get me up, ready and chipper. After getting our campsite cleared up and eating breakfast (which was nothing more than a breakfast bar and some milk from powder) we continued through Route 37. It was a route much larger than I thought, but my Pokégear told me it was going to be just another hour or two when I reach Ecruteak.

Nothing else happened that really should be taken note of. Wild Pokémon started popping up; Mars beat them. We found some berries on trees; we ate them. Mars got hurt from a strong barrage from wild Pokémon; I healed him up. Nothing was too interesting, guess there were no Trainers on this route to battle. Shame.

Later on in the hour we found a group of trees with three different colored Apricorn. They looked pretty good, so I picked one of each. If they weren't edible, I'd just give sell them off. I tried eating the red one. And then I…

Let's just say that I was definitely going to sell them, okay? Mars agreed with me.

I checked my Pokégear telling me that it was almost ten in the morning. But the more important fact, the fact that made me take Mars by the glove and spring forward, was that I had a bar on my Pokégear, which meant we were getting _really_ near to Ecruteak. I soon noticed the green leaves get more orange as we got closer.

And we reached a very old looking arch on the top of a hill, where the leaves were all in a somber eye catching reds, and almost golden orange. Going past said arch, we were soon in Ecruteak City. The city where '_The_ _Past_ _Meets_ _the_ _Present_', as my Pokégear indicated. It was a very old city, but it had many modern aspects in the building style. I saw a tower in the distance, as well as some ruins. But before I'd explore with Mars, I'd go to the Pokémon Center and Pokémart to heal and replenish supplies, respectively. So I left Mars behind with Nurse Joy, and went for a small shopping trip. I decided to call the folks too, might as well.

"Isn't Ecruteak just beautiful, Sebastian? Make sure to get an autograph from the Kimono Girls, okay? Both times that I went through Ecruteak, _both_ times they were too busy to do it!" Isidora yelled through the Pokégear.

"Yeah, okay, sure. Actually, they're strong Pokémon Trainers too, right?" I asked. The Kimono Girls were as talented Trainers as much as beautiful dancers, I've heard.

"Well, I wouldn't know, with them being always busy as they are. But you better make sure to get me their autographs, **got** **it**? I'll make sure Jiggly sings all the right notes to make fall into a **coma** if you don't!" she threatened. It made me feel nice. I'd start doing all the things Isidora didn't during her journey. I'd make sure that between the two of us, we'd experience _everything _that a Trainer should.

"I got it, I got it, Sis. I'll make sure to get you another Eevee too, okay? It's not fair that you had to give yours away to a child who won him in a bet." I said. My sister had an Eevee, rare as it was, in her possession back then. But he was apparently given away before Isidora quit training, so I only got to see him once when she passed by Goldenrod last year. My sister's team was pretty cool back then… for a girl of course. With a Jigglypuff, Gloom, Togepi, and Eevee. She could have gone fully Normal type if it wasn't for the Gloom.

"…Eevee. Nah, I don't want one. I don't want one again **ever**. They're too good for me. Way too good for me…" she said softly and harshly. And with a hint of depression. I wasn't serious about getting her one, but I guess having your Pokémon taken from you like she did still hurt. So I dropped the subject.

"I'm thinking about heading off to the mountains for a bit to find a Machop. Those seem more out of the way than Poliwag, so yeah. I hope I catch one that can help me bring down the Ghost Gym Leader of this city." I told her. And it was true_. __I_ _wasn__'__t_ _going __to_ _barge_ _into_ _the_ _Gym_ _just_ _to_ _get_ _humiliated_ _with_ _one_ _Fighting_ _Pokémon_ _that_ _can__'__t_ _even_ _touch_ _a_ _Ghost_.

"Oh, that sounds good. Make sure to catch a strong one! As for Poliwag, those like coming out at night, I think, so make sure to go at the right time!" She said. Her mood seemed to have gone through a rollercoaster. Still she gave me a good point.

"Okay, thanks sis. I'm gonna go pick up Mars at the Pokémon Center, so I'll call you guys later tonight." I said. It was early afternoon now, so I wanted to go check the mountain nearby, Mt. Mortar. At least know how to navigate in case I have to go back tomorrow. No harm in that, right?

"Alright, take care." She dismissed. I put away my Pokégear as walked back to the Center. Mars still wasn't done, so I went to the Trainer's lounge. There were a lot of other Trainers talking amongst themselves, so I decided to eavesdrop in on them.

"Hey, you know, I would have a Fog Badge too by now if I didn't have my all my Pokémon with Nurse Joy because some freak Psychic made them insomniacs!" A boy yelled at another boy in his group. There were around three boys, and two girls in the group discussion.

"I heard about him. He's been battling Pokémon Trainers left and right, and he's been beating everyone too… His Drowzee eats dreams. Can you believe that?" Another boy commented.

"That's weird; I thought we were the only ones who that guy challenged. You guy noticed how barely looked at you?" One of the girls said, the other girl nodding affirmatively, backing her up.

I took in all the information I was getting here. The Psychic I faced was a strong Trainer, it looked like, and I guess everyone here was beaten by him. '_Mars_ _might_ _have_ _been_ _in_ _the_ _same_ _boat_ _as_ _their_ _Pokémon_.' I thought to myself.

"Well, Morty's Ghosts do the same thing, you guys. I didn't get the pleasure of battling that Psychic, but Morty was tough too, you know." He boy said, showing around his new sparkling badge.

That's right, Morty had Ghost Pokémon. I shuddered at the thought of them doing the same thing to Mars as that Drowzee did. I kept thinking, until Nurse Joy called me out that Mars was ready. It was funny too, because even though one can't tell Nurse Joy from town X apart from Nurse Joy from town Y, she can tell apart all Trainers and their Pokémon.

She handed me back Mars' Pokéball, which I glad received. I opened my mouth to speak to her, but she went first.

"Your Hitmonchan… had its dream eaten before you came here, right?" she asked me and I nodded, wondering what she wanted to tell me. "Well, the whole day I've been getting Pokémon who haven't slept at all because of it, but this Hitmonchan recovered quickly and… I was wondering, did you beat the **blind** Psychic boy that I've been hearing about?" she asked me. But I stopped listening after the blind part. Blind. Now it made sense why he never directly looked at anything. Not at me, nor Mars, not even his own Pokémon. And it was because he couldn't see…? No, he still looked at our general direction when he did glance at us over. I heard before some stories where Psychic Pokémon can see aura or spirit or something that not many others can to identify people and things, but this was my first experience with a human. I nodded at her, and she said that I must have been a great Trainer to do it with a Fighting type Pokémon. I thanked her and left the Center.

* * *

><p>And headed towards the edge of the city, and to the mountains with Mars at my side. The leaves turned back green as we walked.<p>

Maybe after an hour of walking, I found the entrance to the cave inside the large range of Mt. Mortar. And then we spent another hour going through with a flashlight, beating all the Zubat and Geodude we encountered. Something that I soon learned was how annoying those two Pokémon were going to become. I think I saw a Marill's tail before in the water, but still, I wasn't interested. No matter how rare and how much my sister would love one. And I was getting ready to leave the cave altogether until I saw it behind a rock.

A small, blue tail. A Machop's tail.

* * *

><p><strong>Just for those people that like speculating, a lot of important scenes from this chapter will brought up again later on. This just gives a first glance on 1.) A Rival and 2.) Isidora's journey. Many thanks to RuningWitSizorz and japaneserockergirl for their kind reviews, I do look forward to more reviews and critique! <strong>


	5. Stubborn Makes Two

Mars and I decided to wander the tall grass of National Park one day. It was early in the morning, but I woke up with Mars jumping on my bed. He was really hyper, so I thought maybe he wanted to take a stroll somewhere. Since it was so early in the morning, I didn't really want to go and get yelled at in the streets of Goldenrod City by other people, so I chose the next best place. National Park. There were wild Pokémon there in the grass. And maybe even a few other Trainers like me looking for a battle! Mars just needed a fix of excitement, and it was getting to me that day too, I remember.

National Park looked different during the day than it did early morning, and it was calmer and prettier. Too bad there were no Trainers anywhere. So, Mars and I walked around for a bit, explored a path that was through a rift in the fence that I didn't know about before, and sat down on the big fountain rim. I heard that if you flew up somehow and looked below, the park's grass was shaped like a huge Pokéball, and the fountain was the button to release a Pokémon. Now there was something that I'd like to try one day! But then I realized I'd have to catch a Flying type first…

Mars had enough resting time, and grabbed my hand and ran towards the grass. He wanted to battle. I remember when Mars was just a curious but sneaky kinda Pokémon, like a child, but now he wanted to get active and actually battle. My Dad did some more research on the name 'Mars' and told me that it was also the name of a god of war and battle. I think Mars decided to live up to that name and cut out the childish act.

We found a Sunkern in the grass. It was collecting dewdrops from the other plants, standing still the whole time. Perfect prey, I thought. Mars beat it fast with a few Tackle while it couldn't react. Soon, more Sunkern came out of the grass to gang up on their friend's attacker, but Mars still beat them. Most of them couldn't even get an attack out before Mars beat them with a fast and hard Tackle attack!

After that we moved onto Caterpie. After those weren't enough, we tried going up against some Pidgey. Their Gusts soon proved to be too much, though, so we stopped for a break. Now we were both sweating and panting from our running around and fighting again the wild Pokémon of the park. Still, Mars was getting impressive; beating all those Pokémon, and still standing, albeit a little worn out. We were gonna to be a great team. And then it came to me. Pokémon weren't the only ones we can challenge. And by now we began to see a bunch of Trainers around the park, strolling and battling.

So by instinct, I challenged the first person I saw. Mars was still weak and panting, but I went in ahead without thinking. I guess that was my fault in the end, and what caused the problems of my life. The person I challenged was a boy my age, maybe a bit older, and he laughed at me. He had many other followers; boys a bit younger than me, I presumed. His posse. He looked at Mars and laughed again.

"You think you can actually beat me with _that_ thing?" He asked, pointing at Mars, who was still catching his breath. "Alright, no problem. Easy picking, go Bloodhound!" he said, throwing a Pokéball to reveal a Snubull. First I giggled to myself at the name, but soon enough I was speechless when Mars was sent flying by a Take Down. I quickly turned back to look at the smirking boy.

"H-hey, that's not fair!" I yelled. He just laughed it off. And then things went from bad to worse. I tackled him to the ground, and punched him in the eye. I was getting into a fight I'd be regretting for a long while. The boy, getting back his balance, tackled me back with more force. Then the other boys followed with the gang attack, and I was soon in a world of pain. And with a situation of a bunch of boys outnumbering you, I had no chance. Mars found his way back, and tried to back me up by getting a hit on the Snubull he was unfairly attacked by. Of course, this show was over soon when the Snubull went back for a strong Take Down. Like Pokémon like Trainer. The boys soon walked away when I was left bruised and bloody. I looked at Mars, who fainted, and began to cry in the park.

That's when those unhappy days began.

* * *

><p>The Machop was a strong opponent. And by strong, I mean that it took Mars a minute longer than the other wild Pokémon to take it down. But there it was. The first Fighting Pokémon I encountered. And the first Fighting Pokémon I was going to capture. I went into my bag to grab a Pokéball, but, the Machop looked confused, and then angered when I threw an apricot instead. It grabbed it and threw it at the small stream inside the river we were by. And trust me, I threw it on purpose, I-I swear! I looked further into the bag, while Mars kept the Machop from escaping. And I didn't find any Pokéballs in there. Because I went to the store to replenish my water supply and potions… and…didn't get Pokéballs. None. Zippo. Totally forgot about them.<p>

"Oh come on, really!" I yelled at myself. Mars glanced over at me, while keeping a look out for the Machop, and scratched his head. I didn't want his work to go to waste and leave this Machop behind, but I didn't want to run back to Ecruteak, buy a Pokéball, and then come back to catch the Superpower Pokémon… I contemplated on what to do… I looked in my bag one last time before giving up hope, but I found a small bag on the outside of my backpack, strapped on. Then I wanted to call Isidora how her present saved me from having to give up on catching my first Pokémon, but I had to catch the Machop before that could happen. I took out the Heavy Ball, enlarged it by pressing the center button, aimed and fired at the Machop, who Mars just let go of. I was thinking to myself that the Heavy Ball would look awesome on a Machop. It'd be me, Mars, and a Machop. I'd have to find a nice name for it, but now we'd have a new team addition. A step further to becoming a Fighting type master! But my reality didn't always carry out like I hoped, mind you. That was because it was dark (and I had no such physical skill of aiming a throw, but that's beside the point!).

I heard something splash in the water, and I saw in horror that the Machop wasn't compacted into energy by the Heavy Ball as it should have. Mars cried out at the river wondering what dropped, and the Machop stood there, confused. And while they didn't know what just happened, I did.

I missed the Pokémon.

"Wha…" I muttered. I missed the Machop, and the Heavy Ball went straight down the river. So, I just had a Lure Ball left, but that was reserved for the Poliwag I was going to catch; no exceptions. Mars waited for a command, and the Machop was awkwardly standing around wondering what our next move was going to be. And I had no plans. I looked at Mars, then to the wild Pokémon. I looked at the statures of both, compared them, and tried estimating weight… And began my _new_ and _improved_ capture plan.

"Mars! Knock it out with a Mach Punch!" I yelled. Mars complied, giving me an unsure look on what making the Fighting type faint like a normal wild Pokémon was going to do for us. Good thing I thought this through, kinda. In a way. Unorthodox, definitely. But I was not really keen on letting this Machop go. The Machop went down soon after Mars hit, and it was my chance. I went back to my bag, and took out the next literal meaning of "capture".

With the handy-dandy Escape Rope. I called Mars over to help me secure the Machop, and assisted me wrap it up in the rope normally used to help escape places like the cave we were in. We made sure to tie its arms and legs so it couldn't escape part two of my plan. We now had an unconscious Machop tied up and unable to move. Mars was giving me the '_This_ _is_ _so_ _wrong_' look with a raised eye, but I just gave him a sheepish look, and continued. I tried lifting up the Superpower Pokémon, but it would be too heavy to move out of the cave, travel through Route 42, go back to Ecruteak, and the Pokémart to buy an emergency Pokéball by myself. I wasn't really aware how legal it was exactly, anyway. I nodded Mars to help me carry it out, and he obliged, sweat dropping at the idea. Sure we were kinda shaky at first, but I just really hoped we didn't drop it and accidently wake it up. The faster we got out of here the better. A woken up Machop would give us trouble.

We got out of the cave pretty simply, but it still took around close to an hour. At this point though, I just ignored the potential training Mars could have gotten from the rocks and bats in the cave. But we made it out of the cave, and I was already exhausted. Though, Mars would have kept going. We gently put the Machop down in the clearing afterward, while I took out a water bottle, and began to replenish my fluids. I looked at the water inside the bottle, and I wondered what I should tell Isidora about losing her custom made Pokéball like that. In the end I settled with '_she_ _doesn__'__t_ _have_ to _find_ _out__…_', and after giving a bottle to Mars, kept on our track rather undisturbed; by neither the wild Pokémon, nor the Machop. The day still looked like it had an hour or so before it got completely dark.

We reached the gate of Ecruteak City a bit later, and made a run towards the Pokémart. But as luck would have it, right as we turned the corner outside of the store, I bent my ankle at an awkward angle, and stumbled. This caused Mars to also stumble, and the three of us all fell down. I winced in pain, but then that pain turned to sheer fear when I heard a low "Chop" grunt from behind me. The Machop began to open its eyes and stood up, and looked hurt from the fall, not even mentioning the beating Mars gave it. Then it's big, childlike red eyes looked at me and Mars, and it was mad. Mars and I looked at each other, then back to the other Fighting type. I wondered what would happen, and I guess I didn't really see what happened coming.

The Machop sat back down with us, and took a deep breath, then began to lie down. In the middle of the Ecruteak City street. I think it was sleepy at the time. And well, I guess we didn't really spell comfort while we ran around carrying it. Mars and I looked at each other, and broke into a nervous laugh. It wasn't the most comfortable laugh, but still, we didn't have the problem we thought we'd have. I told Mars to stay with the Machop outside of the store while I went in to buy a Pokéball. I just needed one. The Machop was damaged, tired, and _tied_ _up_ for crying out loud. I'm glad that no police went to check up what was going on, because if they found out I tied up a Pokémon like that, they'd think I was a bad Trainer. Then they'd learn that Machop was still a wild Pokémon, and that I was actually a poacher. My imagination ran wild while I bought the spherical capsule. Still, imagine my delight when I found Mars and the Machop, still tied up, sitting down outside of the store. Not causing any disturbances, and _just_ _chatting_. I scratched my head trying to think what they were talking about, but the amount of "chans" and "chops" didn't really provide me with much. I took out the new Pokéball from my pocket, and I showed it to the two Fighting types, who quieted down and looked at me curiously. Mars less so, but that's because he saw what was coming. I looked at the Machop then.

"Hello, my name is Sebastian, and that is Mars. We're trying to become a strong Fighting type Pokémon team… would you like to join us? We'll help you become stronger, and Mars will get stronger… I'll get stronger… It's a good deal!" I explained. The Machop took a quick thinking about it, and I think it was still kinda against it, but… needed an extra point of persuasion. "You know… if you train with us, you might be able to catch up faster level-wise than staying in that cave and so you won't look like such a _pushover_ like you did against him." I gave him the best smug look I could muster up (which didn't say much; I rarely did this), and the Machop took offence to it. Apparently not just offence, but it tried to show me up. After struggling to break free of the rope, he gave up. Instead then the Machop looked at me, and gave a faint smile. I crept up a nervous smile of my own.

And then it hopped over to tackle me (having legs tied and all) hard. Well, I wasn't the original target. The Pokéball was. But we both went down, and Mars started to giggle to himself, still sitting. He was happy at what was going on. The Machop soon wriggled on top of me and managed to press the Pokéball's button, and he disappeared into the Pokéball right away. The ball began to shake on my torso, and I stopped breathing right there.

First click. A certain past situation began to take place in my head. I started to get nervous.

Second click. A certain green praying mantis Pokémon's cry began to play in my head. I was a little scared now.

Third click. A certain memory of the wimp from Goldenrod City's broken face when that Scyther broke out and crushed his optimism. I was beginning to panic in case of the same outcome.

One final click and my sudden doubts vanished. The Pokéball stayed shut on my chest cavity, and Mars beamed a grin at me. I looked at him, returning the favor. I withdrew Machop's Pokéball, and took out Mars' Pokéball. I went to return Mars, and got him back without protest. He looked like he could use some rest. The three of us, actually. I went to the Pokémon Center and dropped my new team of two in Nurse Joy's care. She readily took them, and gave me a smile.

I went to the lounge area for the second time that day, and took out my Pokégear. I recognized the same group of Trainers from earlier today, talking not about the Psychic boy anymore, but their Gym battle.

"Morty was not easy, you jerk!" one of the two girls yelled at one of the other boys. That boy won his Fog Badge a little before.

"But Mel, you can't really expect your Furret to do much against his Ghosts. Not to mention you pretty much run Normal and Grass types. Remember your matchups." the second girl said. "I won my match, though. Ghosts don't really have an edge on Dark types like my Murkrow!" she added, snickering at the first girl. I guessed she was the only one who didn't beat Morty. I dialed Isidora's number on my Pokégear, and began the call.

After a few seconds, she picked up.

"Hey, Sebastian? You get my autograph yet?" she asked, and I laughed.

"Not exactly, but I did catch a Machop. And I can get it to give you an autograph, if you'd like. No wait; I'll get Mars and me to sign it too. You'll save it, and give it a few years; we'll be more awesome than those Kimono Girls." I said, and actually looked forward to it. I could become something big if I become strong enough.

"Yeah, _alright_. What's your plan gonna be against Morty? Any of your Pokémon know moves that can hit Ghost types?" she asked. I honestly didn't know.

"I'm not sure, but I was going to be training tomorrow. Then face Morty the following day. I'll figure something out." I replied. It would give me a chance to get a team synergy together. I beat a Psychic type, so I was going to beat the Ghosts too.

"Oh okay, that sounds smart. Make sure that since you'll be staying in Ecruteak, get the darn autograph! I want no less than five signatures!" she ordered, and promptly hung up. I didn't even have time to mention that I lost her Heavy Ball in Mt. Mortar.

Putting away the Pokégear, I started thinking. With two Fighting type Pokémon, we can't land a hit on Ghosts without training hard. And not just training hard, but making sure that we can strike and also take the hits that Ghosts attack with. If it's the Hypnosis-Dream Eater tactic, I wasn't so sure if there would be anything like dirt to help us out like with that Drowzee. So there'd have to be an alternate solution to it. Well, before coming up with battle plans, I'd have to know what my new Machop can do.

The door to the infirmary opened and Nurse Joy, joined by a Chansey, called out to me. She had two Pokéballs with her. My team size had now effectively doubles since coming to her last time. And Nurse Joy's mind certainly somehow remembered this.

"This Machop… you didn't have him before, right?" she asked. Now I knew that my Machop was a 'he', I can stop calling him 'it'. I grinned, and opened my mouth to tell her of my quite ridiculous misadventure capturing this Machop. She stopped me before though.

"How dare you have this Pokémon tied up! I see many Trainers pushing their Pokémon so hard, but this is the first time I've seen something so atrocious being done to a wild Pokémon! Then you caught him? While he was tied up? You should be ashamed of yourself!" she yelled at me, raising the conversing Trainers in the lounge to stop and heed ear to the juicy scolding I was receiving. Again, somebody completely misinterprets the situation. Nurse Joy wasn't being so joyful right now.

"W-wait, hold on a second! You got it all wrong!" I tried defending myself.

* * *

><p>It took a good half hour of explaining my situation as a whole to Nurse Joy. I even had to bring out Mars and my new Machop to try testifying before calming her down. Since she couldn't really understand a bunch of 'chans' and 'chops', we had to resort to simple 'yes' or 'no' questions. She readily apologized after she found out that Machop wasn't captured against his will. I made sure to take out any details that made me look bad, like taunting his strength for him to join my team. Still, I managed to rent a room in the Pokémon Center free of charge, and it was good too. I was alright with sleeping outdoors, but I don't think I'll ever want to pass the opportunity of sleeping in a nice bed, and sleeping out in the wilderness. We got some sandwiches delivered from room service, which we had to unfortunately pay for. Well, I did. Mars and the Machop just began eating the batch. I looked over at Mars, and then the Machop… And I forgot about something pretty important. I stared at him until he glanced over, chewing his food.<p>

"You… need a name." I looked at him in the eye. The Machop almost choked on the sudden attention. Mars patted his back and he managed to swallow. Then he crossed his arm, and closed his eyes defiantly. I gave him an intrigued stare.

"What, you don't want a name? I'd rather not call you 'Machop', you know." I told him. Still he stayed the same, and unresponsive. I was gonna give him a name, since having one Pokémon with and a Pokémon without one would be kinda awkward. I was going to at least persuade him to let me name him. The name itself can wait. "Are you too proud for a name? Or you don't want me to call you something too _good_ _for_ _you_?" These questions would give me notable information. Machop twitched a little, and responded against the taunts and tried tackling me. I saw it coming (I was getting better at taking random Tackles from my Pokémon) and moved out of the way for the Machop to land on the floor. He got up to give a second attempt, but I moved faster. I took him, and threw him. If we were going to do this the hard way, I wasn't going to hold back.

Too bad that the species name 'Superpower' Pokémon showed me up. I was slightly bruising. I did get a few hits on the Machop, and we were both panting. Mars was still eating, but tried to egg us on by giving us tips on how to punch. We tried copying his style, but in the end rather than boxing, we began again with some more throwing around and pushing. Our little wrestling fest soon got a few complaints, and Nurse Joy came to our room asking me to please think of the other Trainers. She wasn't mad at all, though. That was because even the Machop was smiling. We were both having fun with this. She saw this, bid us good night, and left. There was one more sandwich left, so I split it in half. One for me and one for Machop. Mars groaned a little seeing the last sandwich go.

"Mars, you were eating the _whole_ time!" I laughed. I looked over to Machop, and offered him his piece. "Come on, here. You were pretty good." I sang. He kinda just stared at us, and soon gave us the '_I__'__m_ _not __taking_ _tha_t' act by crossing his arms and turning away. Too bad I knew that this Pokémon was childish now. I grabbed his arms, unfolded them, opened his hands, and put the half sandwich down. I gave him a hearty smile, and in the end he looked at me, unknowing what to say. He fidgeted a little, swallowing his pride, but…

"Machop!" he smiled, gratefully. And now was a good time for formal acceptance into our team.

"So you're rude, violent, childish, and _extremely_ arrogant. But you're also really fun and interesting to add onto our team… So what is a good name for you?" I wondered. He looked at me curiously too. I think he was accepting the naming idea. Now I had to come up with the actual name. Mars was named after a planet, but I could go the other way and name him after some sort of deity. So that meant I had to call some expert on this stuff.

My dad.

"Hey Sebastian! How are you doing? What's going on?" Dad greeted me on the Pokégear.

"Hi Dad. I caught a Machop. But I'm not sure what to name it…" I told him straight up. I guess it was sudden, but still.

"Oh, a Machop… Hm. I wonder. Can you tell me a little about it, personality wise?" he asked me. First step process of getting a name. My dad took classes from the Name Rater, but he always ended up applying mythology characters to names. He tried giving the name Artemis to Jiggly, but Isidora didn't think it was _cute_ enough.

"Um, he's very immature, wild, stubborn… but I think he's perfect for my team." I told him. I was practically insulting my new Pokémon, but it was the truth. And honestly? I wouldn't really like it if Machop changed those attributes.

"Oh those are _lovely_ traits. At least your journey will get some spice, right?" he laughed. "But I think I got a good name for it. Well, it's more of a prediction on his character, but I'd like you to try it out." He added. He took a pause. I awaited his response. I knew it was going to Machop, knowing my dad.

"Adonis, the Machop." he said. "The god of beauty, and represents the charm of all vanity stricken youths." he finished. I quickly said my thanks, telling him to say hi to Mom and Isidora, and promptly ended the call.

"Adonis…" I tried saying it without bursting out laughing.

The name was a complete _opposite_ of my new Pokémon. _Adonis_ the Machop looked confused, Mars was smiling, thinking it was the final act to solidify our new team member into the party.

I was laughing thinking I was going to be calling my Machop Adonis.

* * *

><p><strong>Alrighty then! Hope you guys had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and I'm really really really sorry that I missed last week's update. It was a busy week and all, with it being Thanksgiving, my sister's birthday, relatives, etc. But now, if you don't see this story updated by Sunday night as per usual, just check my page to see what's going on. I really had fun writing this chapter, and I hope to see comments and reviews! Major thanks to RuningWitSizorz, japaneserockergirl, and J-ster for being awesome and leaving rc, and one last thanks to my friend Leo for helping me proofread!**


	6. Hopeless Affair

"Oh okay, that sounds smart. Make sure that since you'll be staying in Ecruteak, get the darn autograph! I want no less than five signatures!" I said before hanging up on Sebastian. That way he couldn't tell me 'no'. Or give me any Eevee references. Those were the two things I wasn't going to stand. Still, he sounded well. Catching a Machop already was great for him. I just hoped he wouldn't lose too fast against Morty. Just a Hitmonchan and Machop against one Gastly, two Haunter, and a Gengar was bad news for him. I just knew he was going to lose. Badly too, may I add. He probably won't even get a hit in. But everyone needs that kicking. That one sided battle where you had no hope of winning. I wanted Sebastian to have it now, rather than later. And don't get me wrong, I want Sebastian to succeed. Which is why I want him to face total defeat now before his ego inflates. I went on to predict his next move after the loss: Sebastian comes back to Goldenrod, and I'll have him go to Violet City to face Falkner and take care of my special errand. I decided to think this way as his sister, not as a fellow Trainer. Did that make me, Isidora, a _bad_ person?

I saw Jiggly looking into my mirror with one of my hats. She was looking really cute as always, as all of my Pokémon. But I didn't really take the others out as much as Jiggly, and that was because she was the one that understood why I acted the way I do, instead of moping around. Bella didn't. Toby didn't. Lola didn't. I didn't really expect them to, anyway. Still, I felt like I was neglecting them in favor for Jiggly too much lately. Sebastian's excited voice over his new Machop made me realize the detachment I had with the rest of my party, and it _slightly_ made me sad. But I soon got an idea. I grabbed a picnic box in my room I got as a gift from Julia, and then went over to Jiggly and picked her up, dropping her (my) hat on the floor.

"We're going out for dinner!" I said cheerfully. She pouted at me ending her dress up time.

It was another beautiful twilight in Goldenrod, and first place I went was to the Department Store. I got some food, some drinks, plates and napkins, and some clothes sizes much smaller than mine for later. Now I had a full box for what I had in mind. I looked at the time on my Pokégear. Almost a half hour to eight. Everything was going according to plan. My next move was to head over to National Park, and we made it in the next twenty minutes of walking. It was pretty dark out, but I wanted us to have this time to ourselves.

This was nothing compared when I traveled, but I felt a little out of breath nowadays walking over. We found a nice table to sit in near the picnic area. I set out five plates, took out the food, set my Pokégear to the scheduled radio drama I wanted everyone to listen to. I set out the bottles of Leppa Berry juice out along with the plates. Jiggly helped out too, setting the napkins. When I saw that everything was perfect, I took out two Pokéballs and Great Ball from my bag. Then I released the rest of my party.

The three petit Pokémon all smiled at coming out, but then their attention went over to the table with food. Then they all slowly glanced back at me, and I smiled. They were cast aglow from the now lit lanterns in the park. These Pokémon traveled with me to get six badges.

"Come on, let's eat!" I said. Toby the Togetic went up to me and flew on my left shoulder, opposite of the shoulder Jiggly was on. Bella the Bellosom and Lola the Corsola jumped to hug me, and I grabbed them in my arms. I then directed them over to the picnic table, and turned up the Pokégear's radio. It began to play the current radio drama, while we all listened on. This one was about an adopted orphan training Pokémon to find his real birth parents. It was a nice, well written play to be placed on the radio. One day, I hoped to take part of that; whether it was voice acting, writing it, I didn't know. But I thought it would give me something fun to do that didn't involve battling. I didn't want to battle any more, my Pokémon didn't deserve being hurt. My other Pokémon continued eating their food. I did too. All my Pokémon were relatively short, so they all ate on top of the table, not that I minded. We were all having such a nice time. And I had to thank that Machop Sebastian caught for reminding me what I forgot. My irreplaceable team. My lifetime friends.

When drama ended, we were all left laughing because the voice actor ended up screaming in the middle due to a spider in the room while they were airing live. I switched to the next station that was playing Pokémon Lullaby. It began to get us drowsy and before we got struck with laziness, we decided to clean up the food and garbage before heading back home. I didn't return anyone back into their Pokéballs, and we all happily walked back. I grinned to what my next plan was, thinking to the clothes inside my bag.

Dress up competitions. Just like old times. I knew everyone would enjoy it.

* * *

><p>I woke up sort of sore the following morning. Mars and <em>Adonis<em> the Machop were right beside me, sleeping still. I yawned, and then I went to the bathroom to change and get other business done. I guess I woke everyone up when I left the bed because by the time I got back, Mars and Adonis were both up and ready, wrestling already. It was still pretty early, but I didn't have the cold atmosphere surround me to make me want to stay another hour asleep like out in Route 37. I decided to get out of the Pokémon Center as fast as possible. There were a lot of things I wanted to do around Ecruteak City today. Training was the most important. Getting to know what Adonis can do was the most important. Of course, keeping an update with Mars was obvious too. We walked out together, and I wasn't sure where to train or go. There was the Tin Tower I could go to, the ruins called the Burned Tower, the Dance Theater where I could go and see the Kimono Girls and… and battle them of course! _Stay_ _in_ _for_ _a_ _show_, maybe, but battling them would be more practical. Not to mention, I should check if I can get those autographs.

So I made up a list of what to do today. One. Go to Ecruteak's Dance Theater. Two. Go check out the Bell Tower. Three. Explore the Burned Tower. While I did that, Adonis would surely start getting used to Mars and me. Morty would be a piece of cake.

Our first stop was nearby the Pokémon Center, and sure was crowded. We managed to get inside for their show, though. I think they were wrapping up their routine. The three of us squeezed though the standing crowd until we got to see them rather up close. And they sure were amazing. The oriental music being played certainly made the atmosphere. I went down to my two Pokémon. Mars was in awe, but Adonis was just shrugging them off, like they were nothing. I wasn't going to stand for his stubbornness though. Those Kimono Girls were amazing!

"Hey, Adonis, it's not like you're a better dancer than them. You probably suck badly." I said. He cringed and pushed me. And then he went to prove me wrong. Which would be fine and all, but… He went onto the stage and began doing some sort of dance that totally contradicted the whole routine and atmosphere. And in the end, he wasn't as terrible as I thought. He stepped and jumped around, having tons of _fun_ with the crowd watching and Kimono Girls staring, but this was embarrassing me. My face turned even redder when Mars went to join him in his antics. The Kimono Girls were looking at them curiously, giggling to themselves, even though they were being upstaged. How the three of us weren't kicked out yet, I'm not sure. Some of the hardcore Kimono Girl fans were telling them to get off the stage, but soon they began to cheer when the Kimono Girls went to dance in a similar fashion with the two Fighting types. It was… different than I expected. The seriousness and playfulness of the two parties collided and began a completely different dance. They kept at it in synch somehow until the bell rang, ending their performance. The crowd ended up cheering for the five girls in kimonos, as well as the two random Fighting type Pokémon that came on. The Dance Theater soon emptied out, and I went to pick up my Pokémon who were still receiving kind words from the girls. One of them noticed me, awkwardly going up.

"Oh are these two wonderful Pokémon yours?" she asked. The other four soon looked up, and Mars and Adonis, noticing me, ran up towards me. They were both panting around and sweating. Wrestling and fighting they were used to. Dancing must have been quite the change. I looked at the Kimono Girl speaking.

"U-um, yes! I'm so sorry they upstaged your performance, it won't happen again!" I clasped my hands and apologized profoundly. It was embarrassing having to beg for forgiveness like this. I was expecting a lecture on keeping Pokémon under control but instead I got a bunch of laughs and giggles.

"Don't apologize! That was really fun! The girls and I have been doing that same dance for a few days now. It's not terribly boring, but it does get duller every performance. When the Machop came up, I was wondering what was going on, but when the Hitmonchan came up, they looked like they were having so much fun. So I got everyone else into." She explained and took a deep breath. She looked at her fellow dancers.

"I agree, and the audience certainly liked the change of pace. You noticed, right? You were awfully red during the dance!" another Kimono Girls said. And it was true. I wanted to leave right then and there. I nodded swiftly.

"Pokémon do make everything much lively. I'm glad they went up!" a third one said. Then they began a conversation about Mars and Adonis between themselves. It was funny. Adonis didn't think much of the dancers, but they certainly loved him. How ironic. Mars got love too, but I think it was because he did have more moves than Adonis. Adonis had the guts to come up to the stage though, even just to prove me wrong. I then remembered why I went to the Dance Theater in the first place.

"U-um, excuse me, but are you free right now? I want your autographs! I-I was _hoping_ _I_ _can_ _have_ _a_ _battle_ _too_…" I said, nervously, cutting in between their conversation. I was still nervous talking to these girls. They all turned to me, and one of them stepped up. The last part was my mind working on its own.

"We're all due for another rehearsal in a half hour, but I think I can fit one battle in. Is that alright for you? We can get the autographs right after, right girls?" One of them asked me, and then the rest. The rest of them nodded along, and then looked at me. I nodded quickly, and she directed me to the other side of the stage while she took her side. The other four Kimono Girls, with Mars following them, stepped down and sat in the place mats where the up close seats were. I was kinda nervous, but I was going to battle alongside with Adonis. It was about time to know what he can do.

"Okay Adonis, let's battle!" I declared. Adonis looked at me with a confused gaze, shrugged, and walked over to me. Then he used Low Kick to sweep me off and fall down. Then while I was down, he used Karate Chop on my stomach. And it really hurt. Why did he just attack me! Mars and the Kimono Girls gasped but were otherwise silent. I almost choked and clenched my teeth in pain. When I recovered slightly, I called over Adonis to clear something up. Adonis came over, and I head-butted him to teach him a lesson. Of course he and his proud attitude weren't going to stand for it. He ended up taking it the _wrong_ _way_ and we began fighting on stage, while the Kimono Girl we were supposed to be battling hadn't even released her Pokémon. After back and forth hits, I called Time Out.

"Adonis, I think you misinterpreted. By "Okay Adonis, let's battle", I mean we battle with the _other_ Pokémon that the opponent sends out! Not _me_!" I yelled. Adonis face got the light bulb at what I just said, and sweat dropped. Then he began to nervously laugh an apology.

"C-chop!" he said. He stayed a few seconds longer staring at me. I glared.

"Just face forward and _battle_ _the_ _Pokémon_ _she_ _sends_ _out__my__god_!" I yelled and then he swiftly faced back towards the other side, scared. I heard Mars laughing at us. From embarrassed to irate, I was having a colorful day as usual. The other Kimono Girls giggled.

"You two have quite the chemistry together... It's so nice seeing Trainers and Pokémon having so much fun!" The Kimono Girl on the other side of the stage said. '_Yeah_ _okay_' I thought to myself, giving up. She took out a Pokéball and tossed it. A new opponent came out, and I squealed when I saw what it was. A Vaporeon. I loved Vaporeon. When Isidora had an Eevee, I kept telling her to evolve it into that.

"Alright, Vaporeon, let's use Water Gun!" she commanded. And the Bubble Jet Pokémon sent a fast and furious stream of water at Adonis. It hit, and Adonis stumbled back, soaked.

"Adonis, go and use Low Kick!" I yelled out, and surprisingly enough, he followed. It was our first battle together, and he wasn't putting up any problems. I was delighted. He ran out, and tripped the opposing Water type. I guess the Vaporeon weighed a lot, because it looked hurt.

"Ah, so you're not weak like I imagined. Vaporeon, use Acid Armor!" she instructed. I guess the kind personality she had before ended up underestimating us. The Vaporeon began to melt slightly, and it quickly came back hardened and waxy. I was guessing that it raised its defense. So I told Adonis to follow up with a Karate Chop, and it still hit hard. Even from before I began traveling, I knew that Karate Chop had a higher rate of landing massive damage though weak spots. The Vaporeon continued growling in agony. The Kimono Girl began her counter attack, clenching her teeth. She was getting serious.

"Vaporeon, use Water Gun again!" she ordered her Pokémon. The Water type once again sprayed Adonis back with water, and I saw he was feeling the pressure. He turned back to give me a sharp, disapproving glare. I had to act fast, or I'd lose this. Adonis stood around for a little, and I looked over at Mars and the other Kimono Girls in the audience. The Kimono Girls were busy writing something in a scroll, tearing part of it off after they each passed it and a pen around. At least Mars was noticing us.

"Adonis, get close, and use Karate Chop!" I ordered, and he did so. Or at least that's what was supposed to happen. Adonis completely ignored my command and began to step back progressively. The blue Pokémon made his move by gaining distance against the other blue Pokémon, and I'm not sure if I liked this. Both the Vaporeon and its Trainer looked on, curiously, but then decided to attack with yet another Water Gun. I yelled at Adonis to dodge it from that distance, but still, he blocked out my voice by making his own decisions. I felt the emotional distance between the two of us steadily increasing as far away as the physical distance between him and the Vaporeon. I was speechless, knowing that we were going to lose because Adonis quit listening.

Adonis took the Water Gun head on, with a Karate Chop to slice the stream of water in two. I don't know what gave him the idea for it. I don't know why he decided to stop listening to me. He made a crafty move, sure, but this isn't us being a _team_. Adonis kept attacking without my command, and the Vaporeon loyally followed orders. The Kimono Girl gave us an averted stare. I think Mars and the rest of the spectators were confused with our development. I looked Adonis, who gave me a second of eye contact, before looking away quickly, avoiding my gaze. Even without my commands, Adonis went to strike. He hit hard and fast with a Low Kick, closing in on the Vaporeon while avoiding the Water Gun that kept being ordered from the Kimono Girl with his Karate Chop method. He had them when he cornered them, with no chance of pulling off any attacks without Adonis striking first. I said nothing, and Adonis gave the final blow. The Karate Chop hit with sheer force that knocked out the Bubble Jet Pokémon. As soon as the Vaporeon was returned, Adonis began cheering, jumping around. I still said nothing, took my Pokéball out, and promptly returned Adonis. He turned back the last second, and gave me a surprised look before getting hit by the red beam of light that returned him back into the ball.

Adonis won. But only Adonis won.

I slugged my shoulders down, and made my way down the stairs to meet Mars. I didn't say anything to the Kimono Girl. I just wanted to get Mars and leave the Dance Theater. They stopped me before I could, however. They all gave me disapproving stares. The Kimono Girl _Adonis_ defeated joined the rest of us down, and went to speak before being interrupted. One Kimono Girl passed the sheet of paper to her, and she wrote something on it.

"The Machop sure was strong. But, it'd be just redundant telling you to improve your cooperation, so I'll just leave it at that. You two have great potential; you just need to gain its trust. " she said. The others softly nodded. Mars stepped over to my side.

"…" I didn't say anything. I gave Adonis my whole trust just to get it ignored. I was thinking back… Adonis became the newest member of my team. Before that, I could only give my full undivided trust to my family, and Mars. Having the renegade Machop on my team wasn't the most comforting fact right now. My thoughts were interrupted by a sheet of scroll paper that was placed in my hand. I looked up.

"We've all had an interesting day today because of you and your Pokémon, so we thank you. I hope you remember us!" another Kimono Girl said. I looked back at the scroll paper. All five signatures from the Kimono Girls were there, all with different comments. There was even a small illustration of Mars and Adonis with me. The two Fighting type Pokémon had big, carefree grins, with me in the background patting their heads. I smiled at it, but it didn't help my mood out too much. I thanked them for allowing me to waste their lunch, and left the theater after a few short goodbyes.

Mars followed me outside, and looked at me. He stared at me. I stared back. He wanted me to talk. I didn't want to. At least _he_ cared at all. Instead, I evaded talking about my mood, and went back to the Pokémon Center. I dropped off Adonis by himself to Nurse Joy. He probably didn't have many severe injuries, but I'd rather leave him with Nurse Joy. I was distancing myself from my new Pokémon. It hurt me to do so, but maybe it was for the best right now. I looked over at Mars, who still wanted me to give my thoughts. I decided to push his interrogatory gaze away from me, and I pushed our next agenda list. It was only one in the afternoon, so we'd grab a bite before moving along.

Not before I took out my journal and wrote my next journey entry, though. I wrote about how I got Adonis, how I named him, and how he betrayed my trust. It became a depressing entry even for me at a time like this, so I closed my journal. I left the Pokémon Center with Mars by my side after eating some sandwiches and lemonade they served. I didn't tell him where we were headed, but he didn't seem to care. As long as I could improve my mood, he'd settle with anywhere, I thought.

In truth, we were heading to the Tin Tower out in the northeastern section of the city. There were supposedly Ghost type Pokémon in there, and they would help me out in training against Morty. I still didn't know what to do about not knowing any moves that can hit Ghosts, or what I was going to do about Adonis… But I could at least count on Mars here. He would become my trump card here, my star player. He won me the Plain Badge, so why not the Fog Badge too? Of course, the idea of neglecting Adonis didn't cross my mind until later.

* * *

><p>We arrived at the house that lead up to the Bellchime Path, the short road to the Tin Tower. I found a guard, and old man, blocking the entrance. I didn't understand why they were letting an old man take guard, but I kept my insolent comment to myself. There were other people in the gate, but just chatting around idly.<p>

"May I help you, young lad?" The old man asked me. His balding head reflected light in a comical way, but I went to respond.

"Um, I wanted passage to see the Tin Tower, please." I asked. I wasn't as nervous as asking for autographs from the Kimono Girls.

"Oh, okay. It's nice seeing the youth of today appreciate the magnificence of the Tin Tower. Can I see your Fog Badge?" he asked. I flinched.

"F-Fog Badge?" I stuttered quietly. No one told me I needed that to pass. Not that I really asked anyone, but still. Needing a Gym Badge to gain entrance to the place that I wanted to train to get the Badge itself was mind boggling in my opinion. Absurd.

"Oh, you don't have one? I'm so sorry, but I cannot allow you to proceed. Pity. I look forward when youngling's take interest… " He mumbled to himself. Mars and I made our way out of the gate soon after.

I kicked the ground outside when I left. _Nothing_ was working out for me today.

* * *

><p>Instead of moping around, I tried to not let it get to me, since we still have one more place we could train; the Burned Tower. There was a legend concerning it. Something about a fire that broke out, Pokémon dying… another Pokémon giving them new life… something like that. And now we have ruins here that will be used to train Mars. I wondered to myself why there weren't any Ghost Pokémon in here; it was <em>way<em>creepier than the Tin Tower.

Still, we found our targets. Rattata, Raticate, and Koffing. They were pretty simple to take down. All Mars had to do was use a few Mach Punch. We were really getting the hang of it. Mach Punch's strength was really improving, and instead of having to use it twice, most of our opponents went down in one shot. There was the occasional Magmar that appeared to use fire attacks, but Mars was even better than the Spitfire Pokémon. Mars knew Mach Punch, Rock Smash, Fake Out, and Helping Hand. None of those moves would have any profound effect on Ghosts. Because of that, we trained, and trained and trained. We both went at it for a few more hours, until we were both completely exhausted.

We found one last Koffing to defeat, which I told Mars to make it fast. I told him that in order to beat Morty, I'd have to rely on him the most. I told him to give everything he had into his punches. The Koffing wasn't fast or nimble enough to avoid his fists. He defeated the attacker cleanly, and it didn't look like it was a critical, which was odd, since Fighting type moves didn't do much against Poison types. Then something stuck out to me. I looked at Mars' arms, and then ran down my line of sight to his gloves.

They were glowing silver for a moment. It must have been a new move.

An hour later, we headed back to the Pokémon Center. I was right, Mars had learned Bullet Punch. It was a Steel type move that worked very much in the likeness of Mach Punch. I was psyched. Now we had an attack that could help us beat Morty. In fact I was so excited, that I ran out of the Pokémon Center after getting back Mars. I took back Adonis too. I wouldn't have to rely on him for this match, and that was good. I carelessly placed his Pokéball into my pocket, and then I took Mars by the glove to the Ecruteak City Gym for my challenge. I looked at the time, and it was comparable to the time I went to challenge Whitney. I was excited to win my second badge.

* * *

><p>I kicked a large rock out of frustration when I left the sliding doors of the Gym.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>This Chapter... Where to start... Well, I started it last week, right after Chapter 5, which is unusual itself. But then it became increasingly harder and header to write it. Not because I was getting bored with the story, but the theme of 'nothing working out for you no matter how much you try' isn't just in this fictional chapter, but it's how I've felt this week. So I like this chapter because I got to express myself and still progress the story. Anyway, enough about that. Next Chapter, we'll see what exactly happened during the Gym Match. And also, the beginning flashbacks will become less Sebastian oriented. Everything there is covered, now moving on and away from that. RC as usual, please. I smile everytime I read what you've written. C:**


	7. Dark Faces

I fidgeted around that morning. Not only was I frantic before anyone else was up, but I was also in a crappy mood to boot. I didn't get any sleep whatsoever, and now I was getting myself worked over nothing. I was anxious. I tried walking over to call my parents, but my crash down the stairs woke them up. Having to rely on them like this always was such a bother. I was ten! I didn't have time to be going around being dependent on my parents. Breakfast was made by dad, and my bath was prepared by my mom. Just like always.

Saffron City was my home city, and I loved it. I had my friends play with me always, had my parents and we even had our own adventures. That all changed when I had On…Oncho… something disease. I don't even remember the name of the illness, but it left me like I was now. Helpless.

Today was going to be my first day going over to the Gym. My parents were the one who got the idea months ago, and I was very much against it. It was only after a television program we watched together last week changed my mind. It was about the Saffron City Gym Leader Sabrina having a televised battle with Elite Four Member Will. Both were apparently Psychic Pokémon Masters. I wasn't the one listening in though. It was my dad, who used to be a quite serious Trainer himself. He told me once that he challenged and defeated the Fighting type Gym that's next door to the Psychic one, but when he tried challenging Sabrina's, he lost miserably every time. Over time, my dad became a huge fan of Sabrina. My mom too. But that's because she used to train in that Gym herself. Now, I wasn't interested like they both were. I was tired of television. It was all the same nowadays. I could listen to the radio, intake the same information and leave it at that. That's how it had been since the first time I've been with my parents while they watching battles. But with this match, though, my opinion changed.

The Pokémon League was having a tough time stimulating interest for the Kanto branch of things. Kanto Gym Leaders weren't racking up enough challengers. So they had a Kanto Gym Leader and Elite Four Member battle special kind of battle. After a while, I was left confused. I heard blast after blast from the Pokémon, but I didn't know what Pokémon they were, or any commands. According to the newscaster, all of their attacks of their Pokémon were surprisingly hitting each other. I didn't hear anyone once mention the Gym Leaders giving commands.

"Dad, I think I was spacing out, mind telling me what's going on? I don't hear them any calling attacks." I complained.

"Sabrina and Will are taking place in this really awesome battle, kiddo. They're both Psychic Masters, and the rules that were agreed to the battle were extremely interesting! They've been blindfolded and ear-plugged for the match. They're also not allowed to directly give orders!" Dad explained. I was still confused.

"But, how do the Pokémon know what to do?" I asked, curiously. I now heard the television announcer call that Sabrina's Alakazam was defeated by Will's Exeggutor. My dad groaned, and then shifted his attention back to me. He didn't like it when Sabrina lost.

"Well, Psychics have a method of communicating that doesn't involve hearing, speaking, or _seeing_. They do it through the mind, like Sabrina! They can communicate this way to their Pokémon, and it always makes them strong opponents. " He told me. That was all he needed to say before I could honestly say I was looking forward to visiting the Gym.

We arrived there after a good half hour of walking, me holding onto my mom's hand. We walked pretty darn far without me tripping up, and I was feeling proud. My mom told me that the entrance was just around the corner. I let go of my mom's hand, and I ran ahead at full speed while I heard my parents yelling at me to wait for them. Then it hit me.

No, really. I hit what felt a glass door to the Gym at full force, and I fell back. My parents caught up and franticly pulled me up back on my feet. I groggily recalled my dad was telling me to be careful, and my mom was blaming herself for not keeping up with me. I felt blood on my head from the collision with the hostile glass door. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a big batch of blood on the glass panes of the door right now. Was this supposed to be the best day ever? I heard the accursed door opened soon after, and I listened to a rather familiar voice.

"…I'll get someone to clean that up. Are you here for the Psychic Training program?" she asked in a stoic, emotionless voice. If she meant my bloody head, or the theoretical bloody door, I wasn't sure.

I nodded slowly, still feeling rather woozy from my possible concussion.

Then I passed out in front of the Saffron City Gym, to start off my first day training as a Psychic.

My name is Mark Seva, and I'm blind.

* * *

><p>"I see. Sebastian, you should really come back to Goldenrod City. You could come back to train or maybe train for the Violet City Gy-"<p>

"I'm not going back! It's not about not beating Morty anymore, it's about me not being good enough for my Pokémon!" I yelled into the Pokégear. Then I pressed the end call button.

I hung up on Isidora. Calling her was a mistake. I wanted to be scolded at right now. I wanted somebody to show _me_ the mistakes I made. She was just being helpful and caring. I didn't need that. I took out my small bag from my backpack, and took out the Plain Bade I won in Goldenrod to think. It was early in the morning, and I began to remember last night at the Gym.

"_And_ _I_ _was_ _supposed_ _to_ _be_ _getting_ _better_ _here_…" I thought. I took a deep sigh before grabbing my journal, and placing my lonely diamond shaped Badge back. I didn't really want to record what happened in the Gym last night, but I had to. If I wanted to get better, I needed to examine everything.

That's right. I want to get better.

* * *

><p>The floor was made of wood.<p>

My thoughts first went to avoiding the Hypnosis-Dream Eater combination counter, but it wasn't going too well. I had Mars _the_ trustful, and Adonis the _not_ _so_ trustful in my party.

Morty greeted me with the referee as soon as I walked in, and I was pretty confident on beating the Ghost type Gym Leader. The man I was going to face was wearing a black sweater, and a snazzy scarf going around his neck, and a headband going under blond hair. He had sunken eyes, which gave his creepy vibe.

"So, challenger, mind telling me a little about you?" he asked. I was determined.

"I'm Sebastian from Goldenrod City, and I'm training to be a Blackbelt!" I shouted. I was ready for this. He was going down. No doubt in my mind.

"Taking on my Ghost Gym is pretty bold, then. Interesting. I feel an air of determination around you." He told me. He looked at me for a little longer, identifying me. I was getting impatient and creped out. "Hm. You also seem to be a little worried about something. It's something that you're trying to mask with your determined exterior." He was profiling me. I really didn't like it. He was talking about Adonis. He was talking about my fear of Adonis not listening to me. I started to shiver.

He glanced over at my unnerved self, and nodded to the referee.

"This is a battle between Ecruteak City Gym Leader Morty and Sebastian from Goldenrod City! This battle is a four-on-four match with only the challenger allowed to substitute! You may begin!" he yelled out.

"_Four-on-four_ _match__…_" I thought to myself. That couldn't be good. That meant that I had to rely on Mars to beat four Pokémon. Still, I took out Mars' Pokéball, and released him out on the field.

"Alright, Mars! Let's show them what you can do!" I screamed in excitement. I needed to get Mars pumped for this. I held my fist out, prompting his support.

"Chan!" he responded by meeting his fist with mine. We both then faced the Ghost type Leader. He lightheartedly laughed.

"Hm. I like the bond you two have. But let's see if you can leave a mark on my first Pokémon, Gastly!" he said before releasing the Gas Pokémon. I didn't get a chance to train Mars against any Ghost Pokémon, but I was confident we could do this with Mars' new move.

"Bullet Punch!" I commanded, and he followed though. It was my only move that I could use to beat Ghosts. Mars' fist glowed in a silver light before hitting the Gastly. It was a one-hit knockout. Morty looked perplexed, before returning his Pokémon. I was ecstatic. I jumped up and down in happiness, and Mars let out a 'Hitmon' before taking his position for his next opponent.

"Didn't see that move coming… very interesting. Now, let's try this! Go, Haunter!" he let his next Pokémon come out of its Pokéball. It was larger than Gastly, but had a different shape, and had two disconnected hands floating around its body. It gave us a scary look, but it was directed more at me than Mars.

"Mars, again, Bullet Punch!" I repeated. This time, it didn't do as much damage. I saw the Haunter standing strong, and I knew we were in for a tougher battle. I looked over at Morty as he gave his first command of the match.

"Hm. It's no good using it twice, I guess. Haunter, use Hypnosis!" he ordered. I clenched my teeth. There was no way to avoid it. I couldn't go and ruin the wooden floor, and there was no substance that I could get to avoid the attack. I had only one option.

"Bullet Punch before it gets to you, Mars!"

He acted quickly, and let off his attack. It was going good. This way it couldn't get to put him to sleep. Ghost Pokémon have sneaky ways of getting in your way, though. Haunter's floating hands disappeared for a bit, before coming back and grabbing Mars' arm. Mars was shocked, but I was terrified. I looked over to Morty, who gave a grim smile. So much for _that_ strategy.

The Haunter then began its Hypnosis on Mars. Its eyes shone a soft blue color, and in an instant, Mars was down sleeping. He was now a sitting Psyduck. Just like when we fighting against the Psychic Trainer.

"Dream Eater." Morty spoke softly. Just like the Psychic. I hated that. They were so dead when they spoke like that.

Still, Dream Eater worked the same way it did before. Strange red energy was fired at Mars, and he screamed in his sleep, just like before. I felt as if the Haunter was way stronger than the Drowzee we faced before. I cringed further. I wanted a miracle like back then. I tried yelling at Mars to wake up, but…

Mars just stayed there. No response. Hopeless.

"Haunter, use Shadow Ball!" he said, while the Haunter formed a blob of blackness in its hands. It fired away, and Mars was down. He fainted in his sleep. How horrible…

I bitterly returned Mars into his Pokéball. I didn't know what to do. I could give Adonis a chance. I could _hope_ he does listen. Maybe…

Morty looked on while I took out Adonis' Pokéball from my pocket.

"Adonis, I'm counting on you!" I yelled over while Adonis took the field.

"Chop!" He looked at his opponent, inspecting it. I wondered why. He scanned long and thoroughly. Morty looked on intrigued. I wasn't feeling too good about this. I didn't do any training with Adonis like I did with Mars. I don't know if he'll be able to even get a hit in. He beat the Kimono Girl's Vaporeon, but it's what let him to completely disregard my commands.

"Haunter, Hypnosis!" My face turned white. No way Adonis could avid that.

But he did. Adonis fired a Karate Chop at the Haunter's face. My world turned upside down when it hit, cleanly, and the Haunter groaned backwards.

"What the." I said. That should not have done _anything_. Why? Morty face lit up when he found it out.

"Hm? It looks like your Machop used Foresight right as he came out. It allows him to hit Ghosts with Normal and Fighting moves like that Karate Chop. Very impressive." He took a long stare.

"But you didn't command it, did _you_?"

I froze. No I didn't. Adonis pulled off a move without my permission, and on top of that, I didn't even know it. My face darkened, and Morty's face lit up, enlightened.

"Ah, I see now. This is what you were trying to mask when you got here. You're having trust issues with your Pokémon. Regardless, Hypnosis isn't going to work, so Haunter, use Shadow Ball!" he ordered the Gas Pokémon. Another black blob was fired, and this hit hard. Adonis flew back from the blast, and ended up face flat. I yelled at him to please listen to me this time, but he wouldn't have it by stomping around and grunting. I lost hope by then. I wistfully wished for some sort of miracle like Adonis evolving, Adonis learning a new move, Adonis _listening_ _to_ _me._No such miracle happened.

"Adonis, use Low Kick when it gets near you!" I tried commanding, desperately. Adonis shrugged me off, before going with a Karate Chop. Morty looked on, staring at the dysfunctional teamwork.

"This is getting pathetic... Haunter, finish it off with Shadow Ball." The Gym Leader said coldly. One last attack was fired, and Adonis ended up like Mars.

"Chop…" he mumbled before collapsing on the wooden floor. I returned him. I took his Pokéball and placed it with Mars' in my pocket. I'm not sure how long they were going to have to stay at the Pokémon Center, but I was going to need time off.

"You only had two Pokémon, challenger? This is supposed to be a four-on-four match." The referee asked me. I weakly nodded, confirming his statement. He took a deep breath before announcing the result.

"The winner is Gym Leader, Morty!" he yelled out. I picked up my bag in the corner, and began to leave. Morty stopped me, though.

"I had many battles over the last few days, but this one… was the most pitiful. You wanted to be a Blackbelt, you said? I'd suggest getting Pokémon that will listen to you. Because I only see more of these battles in your future. I'd recommend trying out other Gyms before coming back here."

I nodded slowly. I lost.

"Your Machop _especially_ needs work. Your Hitmonchan has your full attention, I noticed. You're neglecting your Machop in favor of your more 'trusty' Pokémon. "

I nodded again slowly. I lost.

"You're just losing any chances of getting better by ignoring my advice."

I nodded once again. I lost.

Morty sighed, before walking back to the referee, leaving me alone.

* * *

><p>I closed my journal when Nurse Joy announced that my Pokémon were done and fully recovered. I thanked her before taking them back. I didn't know what to do. Did I let down my Pokémon, or did they let <em>me<em> down? The second notion was selfish, but what if it was true? I scratched my head. I was frustrated now. I sat alone in a table in the Trainer's lounge of the Center.

Behind my back, I heard the group of Trainers congratulating the one girl (who didn't beat Morty as fast as them) for her new Fog Badge.

"Thanks guys! It was a tough earn, but I'm so happy right now!" she said. It was the usual group of two girls and three boys.

"No kidding, I thought you'd never win it!" one of the boys said. I heard the other girl laugh.

"Hey that's so mean!" the original girl said. There was a long moment of laughing along, having fun, and cheering. I was so jealous of them. I felt miserable. It stopped thankfully when one boy asked the group a decisive question.

"I dunno what I want to do now guys… Do I want to go to Mahogany Town or Olivine City for my next badge?" he asked. It stopped the whole flow of the conversation, and began a new one. I heard them all making questioning noises.

"Well, Mahogany Town has the Lake of Rage. I'd love to see the Gyrados!" one boy said.

"But, Gyrados are scary! There's a lot more to do in Olivine!" one girl argued.

"Olivine has quite the restaurant, I've heard." Another boy said.

"Jasmine is so pretty, I'd love to meet her!" The other girl said.

"I kinda want to get a Gyrados… now that you mention it, Shawn." The original asker said. It was the first time I heard one of them refer to each other by name. To me, the group represented the Trainer world. All of the gossip they had… it didn't seem like they needed names. I went back to eating my snack.

"So… you guys want to go to Olivine?" asked 'Shawn'.

"More than Mahogany Town!" a girl said. I heard the other girl and one of the boys agree with her.

"And you two want to go to Mahogany Town…?" the other girl asked. I heard something in her throat.

"…Yeah. I think it's time we split up, I guess." He told them. The rest of them went silent.

I started thinking. These Trainers were all good friends, but… they're all human. They all want to do things their own way, and won't always conform to each other's ways of going around things. This could be last time they ever saw each other. That made me sad. If I had traveling partners, we'd have to split up too. Trainers aren't the best idea if you want company, I realized. I realized something else then.

Since Trainers will come and go, there's only one other option to avoid loneliness. Your Pokémon.

I stood up, getting ready to leave the Center. But I got one idea. It was bold, and I wasn't sure if it was going to work. Because it involved socialization. I turned around to face the group of Trainers.

"Why don't you all exchange a gift to remember each other by? That way you won't feel alone when you split up!" I said, cheerfully.

The three boys and one of the girls looked me oddly. They were probably wondering how much of their conversation was overheard.

"That's a great idea! I don't want you two to just leave us. But since you are, I want to remember you!" the other girl said. It was the girl who just won her Fog Badge.

"I like that idea" 'Shawn' said. He smiled at her. Then he looked at me.

"Thank you." he said, and the rest of them looked at me, and smiled.

I never saw any of them again after that.

* * *

><p>"Alright, Mars, Adonis, come out!" I said, releasing both of them. We were going to have lunch together by Route 42, where we traveled to Mt. Mortar to get a Machop, who ended up being Adonis.<p>

Mars gave me a questioning look, wondering something. I didn't know what he was getting at. He went over to my bag and grabbed the smaller bag out that had the Plain Badge. I realized what he wanted to ask, and my face turned dark. Adonis looked equally as guilty.

"Sorry Mars. We didn't get the Badge." He looked disappointed, but then raised his arm up looking at both me and Adonis, trying to raise our spirits. I smiled, and touched his fist with mine. He raided his fist to Adonis, expecting the same thing, but Adonis didn't respond. Instead, he got up, and began walking away from us. I got up myself, and tried to stop him.

"Adonis, what are you doing?" he began running, ignoring me again. I ran to catch up. I had longer legs, and they were giving me an advantage. I saw Mars running behind me.

I began catching up to Adonis, but still, he wasn't slowing down. I thought about returning him, but I remembered that I left both of their Pokéballs behind at our lunch spot. I had to have one way on getting Adonis to slow down.

I jumped on top of him, pinning him down on the terrain.

"Chop! Chop!" he franticly tried to escape my grasp.

"Adonis, what's the matter with you?" I yelled and violently shook him. He looked up to me, and calmed down. His face got darker and out of nowhere, began to cry.

I've never seen Mars cry before. I personally didn't ever think that Fighting type Pokémon _could_ cry. I didn't know how to handle this. I looked over to Mars who looked worried about us.

"Adonis…" I didn't know what to say. I imagined myself crying.

I imagined myself in National Park, crying, with the bullies walking away from me. I'm beaten up, Mars somewhere in the grass, and I'm alone. I replaced myself with Adonis, and I wondered what I, the bystander, should do. It was obvious what I needed back then, and what Adonis needs right now.

I put my arms around Adonis, and held him tightly. He was surprised, but he settled down. Mars walked to us, and did the same. The three of us spent an everlasting time in silence. I was giving the support that Adonis needed. I was giving the support I never got in Goldenrod. Maybe this was the connection I needed that Morty was talking about.

"Adonis, I'm sorry." I said. I let go of Mars and Adonis, who had stopped crying now, and got up. Mars let out a 'Chan' in content. I smiled at him, before giving my attention to Adonis. He looked sad, but much more stable than before.

I took his arm and pulled him up.

"Come on, let's go eat, okay Adonis?" I asked. Adonis nodded unsurely, and the three of us walked back to the lunch site. Mars began to dig in right away, but Adonis was just drinking water. I sighed. Taking a bag of chips, I walked over to him.

"Here, take some." I said, urging him to take the bag. We needed to talk and patch things up. I made up my mind when I was talking to Isidora. I was going to be staying in Ecruteak until I beat Morty. No turning back.

Adonis took some chips hesitantly, but made an effort. That was a start.

"Alright Adonis. I want to know what's wrong. Are you upset with me?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Well you should be. I'm pretty mad at me too. Because of me, I couldn't really help you train yesterday. I just left you at the Pokémon Center while I went with Mars… I'm sorry, Adonis. I really am." I let it all out. Mars just stayed in the background watching us. I looked back at Adonis, who looked back at me. He sighed.

"Chop!" he said, now smiling brightly.

"So you forgive me?" I asked. Adonis nodded.

"Thanks." I grinned. One issue down. And our trust began to rebuild itself. Now for the next problem that needed solving…

"Adonis, do you not like taking orders from me?" I asked flat out. It caught him off guard.

"C-_Chop_?" he stuttered. I took that as a 'yes, but didn't hear it from me'. I took a deep breath, and began to recall when exactly Adonis stopped listening to me. I remembered. It was in the Dance Theater, when we were battling the Kimono Girl and her Vaporeon. The beginning of the battle was going smoothly, but during the middle… That's when Adonis stopped listening to my commands. I tried recalling further.

"Adonis… did you stop taking my orders when you got hurt against the Vaporeon after taking my command?" I asked.

He nodded guiltily. I remembered it fully now. He gave me a glare when he was hit by the Vaporeon. I didn't notice it until now.

I understood it now. Adonis doesn't like to lose, and will do everything he can to avoid losing. That's why when he was hit and hurt by the Vaporeon through my command; he stopped listening and began to battle himself. Because if he followed my commands, he would have _lost_. That's why he had an outburst earlier. He _lost_ against Morty's Haunter with no saving grace. The logic made sense, but it wasn't very practical.

"Adonis. You're such a baby. Are you really scared about losing?" I taunted. His eyes widened at the insult. I sighed.

"Well, at least you're not as much of a baby as your Trainer. I use to cry _every_ _day_, at least twice as much as you did." I finished. Adonis then looked at me, taken back. Mars laughed and nodded, agreeing with me.

"But Mars helped me out. And I want to help you out. What I'm trying to say is… I want to try out this team thing again. Do you want to give another shot?" I asked Adonis.

"Ma!" he nodded, almost immediately. I was glad. Step two, done and over with. We're getting places now. I smiled at them, and opened my mouth.

"Then let's train. The three of us; together." I looked over at Mars, then to Adonis.

* * *

><p>We finished eating, and moved onto seeing what Adonis can do. He showed me that he could use Karate Chop, Low Kick, Foresight, and…<p>

"Hey Adonis, mind showing me the last move you have? I know you can use Karate Chop, Low Kick, and Foresight, but there's another move, right?" I asked him. Adonis nodded, and walked over to me.

Then he gave me a Leer. He tried really hard to give me one that would scare me. It didn't work.

"Um, okay. So Leer." I said, unfazed at all. Then I started laughing. Adonis gave me an embarrassed Karate Chop. It sure did shut me up.

"I think we need a new move. Something that can touch Ghosts without having to set up on Foresight. Maybe they sell some in the Pokémart. How about if we go see?" I explained. Adonis looked on. Mars carried another bag of chips that he shared with Adonis and me. The three of us walked over to the Pokémart, and took a look at the wares. I was disappointed.

No TMs anywhere. I sighed before leaving. Looks like we have to find another way to learn a move. The three of us walked all over Ecruteak. I don't know what we were looking for, but we just wandered around. I checked my Pokégear, and it was already around six. There was no way I'd challenge Morty again until I was confident that we can take on his Ghosts. Let that be tomorrow, next week, next _month_, it didn't matter.

We continued to walk until we arrived at a series of alleyways. The three of us just played around with a can we found, and Mars kicked it all the way into one of the darker alleys. We heard a crash, and somebody came running out.

A shady looking old man came out, and we heard something tumble down afterward.

"Ya! What are ya doing knocking down my house! I spent all week makin' it!" he yelled at us. I was scared. This homeless guy was probably going to knife us down. Just because _Mars_ kicked a can too hard. I didn't even want to know how weakly the 'house' was, because it came crashing down.

"I-I-I'm s-sorry! It won't happen again!" I stumbled. The man was short, stumpy, and looked really dirty. Missing teeth, smelled pretty bad, all that good stuff. He completely ignored me, and looked at Mars and Adonis, who both became nervous.

"These are yer Pokémon, ya brat?" he asked. I nodded quickly and nervously. "You won yer Fog Badge yet?" I shook my head. "Speak up, sonny! Can ya do anythin' other than move yer head?" he yelled at me. I yelped.

"N-No! I didn't win the Fog Badge! I-I only have these two Fighting type Pokémon!" I yelled on impulse. I expected more yelling from this eccentric old man, but he didn't.

"Oh? So ya need… attacks that can deal damage on dem Ghost types?" he looked intrigued. I was still scared, but I complied.

"Y-yes sir." I said. He completely turned around, and went back deep into the alley. I was so _not_ going to follow him in. Mars and Adonis made signs for us to escape while he wasn't looking, but something told me that this guy could help us out, so I denied their request. The three of us almost began fighting on the spot on what to do when the old man came out again, a bag with him.

He took out the components of the bag, and laid them out in front of us. I recognized what they were.

"Dey calls me TM Larry. These are all the TMs I have for sale. Tell me if ya like any of dem." I almost fell down. There tons of TMs here. I saw some black ones, some yellow ones, some red ones… I didn't even know what I wanted. He scoffed, which stopped my trance.

"U-Um, are there any… TMs that are good against Ghost types?" I asked.

"Aye. For yer Hitmonchan or Machop?" he asked back.

"Machop. Mars here can hold his own pretty good." I replied. I was getting less uneasy with this guy. After all, he was helping me out here!

"Hrm, I have this beauty right here dat can help yer Machop out. Payback. TM 66. It's a Dark type move that will definitely help ya beat Morty. I gasped. With this, Adonis could give lethal damage. We'd have a bigger chance of not going down so fast with it.

"Yes! I'll take it!" I yelled, excited. Adonis and Mars both caught on, and yelled along with me.

"Great! So how about ten thousand for it?" My heart stopped. My world came crashing down. That was unbelievable. I only had half of that amount on me. I couldn't pay it. And even I did haggle to make it half price; I'd be going without any supply or food money. It wasn't worth it. Mars and Adonis both seemed to sense my dilemma.

"…I only have a quarter of that, sir." I said. Maybe if I played around, I'd be able to get it really cheap. Isidora told me she did this plenty of times when she was traveling.

"I'll only cut it down to 7,500. And that's 'cause I like ya." He explained. Still no go. I sulked, and looked at Mars and Adonis. Mars shrugged, and pointed the way back to the main part of Ecruteak. Adonis on the other hand, winked at me. Then he walked over to the old man.

"What is he planni-" I tried asking Mars, but then I was cut off. By my running Adonis. I glanced over at the old man, and I saw his face red and boiling.

"Thief! Thief! Dat Machop took ma' TM! Stop it!" he yelled franticly. So _that_ was his plan. But this was it. This was how I was going to get my fighting chance to defeat Morty without wasting a penny from my pocket. I grinned to Mars.

"Don't worry, sir! I'll get Adonis back and the TM! Just stay here!" I yelled, running off; Mars' glove in my hand.

Yeah. I just lied to the guy. I was going to run after Adonis, and we'd never see the guy ever again. I laughed manically at my master plan. Mars just gave me '_this_ _is so wrong'_ look again. But still.

* * *

><p>We arrived at the ponds near the gate to the Tin Tower when we are crashed, tired. Adonis had the Technical Machine with him, and we were all panting. It was getting dark, but I was going to be training with the two of them until much later. I don't want to waste a single second.<p>

"Nice…Nice going, Adonis. I don't know how I didn't think of that." I laughed. He laughed too, and Mars just groaned. I think he was tired.

"Mars, if you keep eating like you did since we got to Ecruteak, you won't feel so tired after running like this! I laughed.

"Chaan" he groaned even louder. Still technically, mission was a success.

The machine taught Payback to Adonis in exchange for Foresight. There was no need for it now that we can hit Ghosts. Watch out, Morty. We were going to get you this time.

Adonis practiced his new attack on Mars the rest of the day, and it wasn't much more than a tackle. As the move name suggested, Payback did more damage when the user was just struck by an attack. I was checking out my Plain Badge. I may not have been able to add the Fog Badge to my collection today, and I probably won't until later on. But I was determined to train. Mars was with me. Adonis and I renewed our relationship.

Adonis went up to me, wanting to wrestle with me. We've done this a lot lately, and it's fun. I feel myself getting tougher. I also feel that we get stronger together. I put the Badge back into the bag, where it accompanied the Lure Ball. I was wondering when I'd have to tell my sister about the mishap with her Heavy Ball, but I guess it didn't matter.

I didn't notice when Mars was checking out my Plain Badge when Adonis and I started wrestling.

I didn't notice a Murkrow taking the shiny object from Mars when Adonis and I were wrestling.

I did notice, however, when Mars threw a Mach Punch at the Murkrow, and then the Murkrow dropped my first and only Badge into the deep pond.

I pushed Adonis out of the way (he was winning) and jumped into the pond. Mars ran after me, while Adonis was confused, not knowing what was going on. I swam and dove a little, but I didn't see my badge anywhere in the rather murky water.

I got up, soaking wet, and. I didn't know what to do. Mars tried comforting me apologetically, and Adonis was still trying to get the gist of what happened. I crouched up, getting my stuff. I wanted to go back into the Pokémon Center. I wondered if Whitney would give a Badge to those who lost theirs. This was just… disheartening.

I kept on sulking until I felt something nudging me in the back. I looked up and saw Mars and Adonis looking at me. But I felt some more nudges, and I didn't see any of them move.

There was something behind me trying to get my attention. I slowly turned around to see who my mystery back-nudger was.

It was petit, blue, had little eyes, a peculiar swirl pattern on its stomach, a tail, and little pink lips.

It was a _Poliwag_. And it had something on its head.

My Plain Badge.

* * *

><p><strong>I went out to my first college visit today, and it was really cool. So sorry for the rather late update. This is now my official longest chapter in the series, triumphing over chapter 2. Things have patched up for Adonis and Sebastian, don't<strong>** you think? We'll also be wrapping up Mark's primary Flashback next chapter too. Really happy to write him. That being said, R/C welcomed as always, because I'd love to hear what you guys have to say!**


	8. Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

"Again! Psybeam!" I yelled. Psybeam was Kinet, my Kadabra's, newest move. It was much more efficient than Confusion. It was a ray-like move very much unlike Confusion, so we had to practice our accuracy. It's been a week of hard work, but I was happy. This was the move we needed to score in order to get chosen by Sabrina to help her take on the Fighting Type Gym next door. We needed to crush them in front of the Pokémon League Officials to become the "official" Gym of Saffron City.

Even in Saffron City, one of the largest economic centers of both Kanto and our next door neighbor Johto, wasn't big enough to hold two Gyms. It took the League Representatives a while to figure it out, but in the end they proposed we have a Gym to Gym battle to decide which one would be worthy of staying Gym. Us, the Gym Trainers of the Saffron Psychic Gym, have been training _especially_ hard. Logically, we had the type advantage. But that didn't mean _shit_ if we couldn't concentrate to bring around total defeat. _Mistress_ Sabrina said that they were going to be very tough Trainers, because they've been dealing with Psychic Pokémon much more than we have with Fighting Pokémon. Gym Trainers were also selected to help in the battles, assisting their Gym score more wins to convince the League Representatives that our Gym was the better pick than the Fighting type one.

And I was Training to be one of the selected by Sabrina to achieve glory of being chosen as the Saffron City Gym. I owed Mistress Sabrina that much, at least. Out of the two things she did for me, I had to repay her. One thing was me being able to "see" again. Almost. Because of her one-on-one training with me, I can now "see", like I did before I had that cruel disease take it away from me. And by "see", I mean without my eyes. It's strange, but by having so many exercises of the mind (they felt like sessions with a psychologist), I can now focus the brain to recognize people and objects through colors of the subjects I see in my mind. Mistress Sabrina calls it "Aura", but I don't really care what it's called. It's how I regained my eyesight, and it's how I started to become independent from my parents. It was freedom. I still had a long way to go before completely perfecting it, but this is how I was going to repay my Mistress. By helping her Gym win the spot of Saffron City's Gym.

"Dabra!" Kinet said, just when his Psybeam managed to hit an empty can of soda we set up to practice. He was the other thing I'm indebted to Sabrina for.

After my first few weeks of training, Sabrina asked me to identify a Pokémon that was most like my own Aura. I didn't understand the exercise, since I didn't know what kind of Aura _I_ gave off. I could only sense the Aura of solid objects', my parent's and Mistress herself. But she began to bring in different Pokémon, one at a time. Around ten different Pokémon came in all at once, but none of them felt right. They gave off Aura that was too sharp, too dull, and sometimes confusing colors blended in altogether. But then I felt another Pokémon's Aura deep inside the colorful mess. This one was different. This one gave off a pleasant shade of yellow. It was almost golden. I "saw" its Aura emanating in a slender, restricting way, struggling to find its way out of the rest of cluster. It was the same restriction I felt in life. When I finished my Aura analysis, I told Mistress Sabrina that this Pokémon was the one that I wanted.

There was silence, and then she came closer to me after bringing the Pokémon over.

"This is Abra. I knew that this one was the one that you'd relate to the most. And even with the other different and confusing Aura you saw, you picked the right one. You have passed, and so you are worthy of the chance to become a Gym Trainer in this Gym. If you accept, this Abra shall be your partner." She said. It was the most that my mentor, Mistress Sabrina, had said to me.

Her long explanation of this test and the reward took me a while to sink in. What if I refused her offer? Would she stop helping me with my Psychic training? Or was this the plan? To trade off my regained "sight" to help her Gym. That was not fair. She would even give me a Pokémon in return to do this. It wasn't fair. How could any deal be so favorable to me?

I instantly accepted her offer. Without a doubt, this deal was all about me, and my instructed repayment was going to be helping as a Gym Trainer. I never met anyone as generous as Mistress. My Abra, who I named Kinet, evolved into a strong Kadabra a while later while training against Trainers coming to face Mistress Sabrina, our Gym Leader. With Psybeam now mastered under our belts, we, the Gym Trainers, made applications. I had trouble writing mine out. I wanted to write how hard I've tried to get over my handicap, and how hard I've been trying to repay all my dues. Writing was tough on me, so I had to ask one of the older Medium to help me, who helped me write it with no problems. Even though everyone was competing, it'd be obvious to see the Aura of guilt consume someone after doing something horrible as sabotaging another Gym Trainer, so I wasn't scared.

The results were announced later in the day after all the Gym Trainers applied. All the Gym Trainers gathered around for Mistress to announce the Trainers that would follow her to defeat the Fighting type Gym next door. I was excited, and I could sense everyone else was too. I saw passionate red Aura radiating from people quickly turn a sullen blue when names were called out. The wave of energy began to slow down. Many of the long time Psychics were selected, and even the Medium that helped me was selected. I stopped believing that I could make it too. Even in the darkened atmosphere of disappointment, the rest of the Gym Trainers cheered and clapped for their comrades. I slowly began to clap too. Even if I didn't make it, I could be happy for those who did.

"-and our last Trainer to represent our Psychic Gym is Mark Seva! Please give a round of applause for the selected! We will meet to discuss our battle strategies tomorrow evening! Let's show the Fighting Gym what we Psychics can do!" she declared. Soft spoken as she was, she easily raised the sunken spirits of the not selected to cheer on for those who did. I was about to start clapping too.

…

I almost fainted realizing that she called my name. My name. I was going to help beat the Gym next door.

When the morning of the Gym Battle came around, I was thrilled. All I had to do was defeat another Gym Trainer from the Fighting Gym. It was going to be a snap. I walked with high orange spirits around me heading to the Fighting type Gym next door. The battlefield was going to be in their Gym, since they have had their Gym stand here longer than ours.

I sensed a heated blazing red atmosphere Aura of determination hit my mind. And my nose. The place reeked. Did no one ever try showering before here? Or do they let their sweat just sit there? It was disgusting. The type advantage I had was going to make me win fast. I did not want to stay here. The cool, refreshing atmosphere of the Psychic Gym was so much more pleasant.

Matches came and went. Surprisingly, the Fighting Pokémon were much resilient than I thought. Of course, the trained Psychics tore them apart. They couldn't us with their brawn. After the match between the Medium, her Exeggutor, and the Blackbelt and his Primeape was over, giving the Psychic Gym another win was over; it came to be my turn. I got up, walked over to my side, and released Kinet. I spoke in my mind, connecting to Kinet's telepathy to prep him up. On the other side, I heard the Blackbelt yelling like an uncivilized Primeape to his Hitmonlee. The difference in our manners was obvious.

He launched the battle into a start when he commanded his Hitmonlee use Hi Jump Kick. I sensed danger in the move, and communicated to Kinet to dodge. I felt his presence move slightly, but it was not enough to avoid the hit, and it hit _hard_.

"_Kinet,_ _use_ _Psybeam_." I communicated to Kinet. Our minds were getting into synch, and that's usually when we win our matched. He fired the psychic beam into the opponent, and when I heard the Pokémon collapse, I swear that's when we supposed to win. The bright orange Aura I identified the Hitmonlee by turned into a boring, dull grey. Yeah, fate had us ready to win. But I heard the Primeape-like man have another yelling fit of encouragement.

"Leeroy! You're not going down from that! A Psychic Pokémon isn't going to get rid of our spirit with their mind! They don't have the determination we do! They don't have the perseverance that we do! Show me you can still fight!" he yelled even more annoyingly. It was obvious he was going to lose, so why bother? I was going to tell him off to quit his moronic babbling, but I had to hold my tongue in shock.

The Hitmonlee was getting up, as I felt the gray Aura turn into a churning orange. I was flabbergasted. There was no way this could happen.

"Leeroy! Once more, Hi Jump Kick! Let's win!" he commanded. The blazing orange Aura turned into a glorious red that began to charge at us. I didn't command anything to avoid it. I was too stunned at this. This was rash, not thought out properly, reliant on the sheer brawn, and highly _illogical_.

The attack hit because of my inability to give command, and I first-handedly saw the golden Aura of Kinet die down into a dulled yellow. Kinet was defeated by the illogical thinking of this Mankey man and his Pokémon. I stunned, and it took me a while to recollect myself to return Kinet into his Pokéball. I saw some red out in the audience, and some accompanying turquoise. The red was the new attitude of the Fighting type Gym Trainers, while the turquoise were the shocked Psychics criticizing. I felt a wave of unbearable proportions invade my mind and press down my body.

I felt the Blackbelt come over here. I didn't want him here. I wanted him to disappear. I wanted everyone in here to disappear.

"Phew! That was a really close match! I enjoyed myself very much, and I could imagine Leeroy thinks the same!" he said to me. I felt his hand reaching out for a shake. I took it begrudgingly. I was _humiliated_. My Pokémon was _humiliated_ in his ball. I felt the probing humiliation the _other_ Psychic Gym Trainers surrounding me.

It was because of this Fighting type Trainer.

I swore that day to never lose against the Fighting type. Never again.

The Fighting Gym was announced inferior to the Psychic Gym and stripped of its position after Mistress Sabrina defeated the Leader. If it wasn't for my slip up, we would have won seven matches to zero. I failed my repayment to Mistress Sabrina's kindness that day.

I guess that's where I began hating the blockheaded Fighting type. Pokémon and the Trainers who specialize in them alike.

* * *

><p>"Okay, break time!" I yelled out to my Pokémon. Today was the sunniest day yet since we've been in Ecruteak. I prepared the high protein Pokémon food out along with some water bottles and sandwiches.<p>

It's been a whole week of hardcore training since my defeat at Morty's Gym. We've been out and about Ecruteak, Route 42, and even back in Mt. Mortar training hard. The _four_ of us. Training for our rematch at the Gym.

Mars came to me first. He stopped his compulsive eating by now. He kinda lost hunger when he started to really practice his punches. We came up with good strategies implementing both Mach and Bullet Punches into one consecutive flurry of punches. The two of us never had real issues together, so we didn't have much shaping up to do. He might have come down on his eating habits, but he ate his food and his (my) sandwiches faster than drinking his water.

Adonis followed Mars soon after. He was the one who was trying the hardest. He wanted to prove to me that I could rely on him, which I didn't doubt anymore. He worked hard to strengthen his new move, Payback, while keeping Karate Chop and Low Kick in check. The two of them worked hard together, wrestling much more than usual, to overcome our issues that led to our defeat. Adonis was eating at a slower rate than Mars, but he ate a little while after Mars was stuffed. He drank his water up faster than Mars did.

I felt something poke my back as I observed my two Fighting types. I knew what it meant. I reached into the bag grabbing more Pokémon food. This one was always really hungry, but I believe it was because this one was smaller, and thus had a higher metabolism than Mars or Adonis. At least, that's what I think Isidora said when she talked about her small brigade of Pokémon at home. I felt another poke on my back.

"Hey Ivan, don't worry, I got it. Slow down, though! You'll end up finishing another bag that was supposed to last us a _week_!" I scolded. I was serious; my money may have been saved a week ago with the TM theft (that was never reported, luckily for me), but I wasn't growing any money other than what I got from winning battles!

"Poli!" Ivan shouted back at me, repeating his request with more pokes. I never understood if he just didn't get what I said or just chose to outright _not_ _care_. I handed the plate over him, and he gladly began his second serving that meal.

* * *

><p>Ivan was the name of my new Poliwag. This Pokémon did not put up a fight against me.<p>

In fact, it didn't even try battling. It was hungry. After dropping my Plain Badge on the ground, it just scurried over to my bag, found some food, and began eating. I don't know how it knew that I had food in there. I don't know how it knew that the Badge belonged to me. But, in the end, I found my Lure Ball, and tossed it over to the eating Pokémon. It went in right away, and didn't even try to break out. The final click came. I caught my third Pokémon, and it wasn't even a Fighting type Pokémon.

Yet.

Nurse Joy looked at me oddly when me, the soaked to the brim Trainer, came in with an extra Pokémon to drop off in her care. I went to shower right after that, and dry off my clothes. When I finished, I lied down to think the day over and wrote it out on my journal. My day unveiled on the blank pages with ink.

Adonis was back on my side, and I had done my first shoplifting concerning a TM. Mars I knew was extremely disapproving of it, but it was alright. One day I'd go back to pay the old man. I didn't want this guilt clouding me over. I had to be positive. At the end, I wrote about the Murkrow, my Plain Badge, and my new Poliwag. I thought about needing a nickname for it. I thought that Dad would be the best bet to find a good name, just like for Adonis. Sure, Adonis was a funny name, but it grew on me. I could honestly identify Adonis from all the Machop in the world now. Same with Mars and all the Hitmonchan that roamed on this land. I just needed a way for my Poliwag to have a name. I dialed the number, hoping Dad would pick up. I needed one of his meaningful names. The Pokégear rung until someone picked up.

"Hello? Sweetie! How have you been? It's really late out you better be in the Pokémon Center! We've all missed you very much, you know!" a more feminine voice answered. Totally _not_ my Dad.

"M-Mom? Um, h-hi. I am in the Pokémon Center. Is Dad around somewhere? I need to ask him something." I asked her. I was hoping he'd be there. I didn't really want Isidora or Mom to help me name my Poliwag. It could turn out to be really bad for both me and him.

"I'm sorry, honey, but your Dad had to work his co-worker's shift today, so he won't be coming back until later tonight. Is it something I can help you with?" she asked. I haven't talked to her since last week. Isidora too. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't just say 'sorry, gotta go!" and hang up. I covered the phone, sighed to myself, then began to talk back.

"Um, sure Mom. See, I caught this Poliwag in Ecruteak City a little while ago, but I'm not sure what to name it. Can you help, Mom?" I asked, biting my lips as I said the last words. It's not that I wanted to hang up on her; I wanted to hang up on her without feeling guilty.

"A Poliwag? The small, blue Water type Pokémon, right? Hmm." She spoke to herself, thinking. I heard an "Ah" before she spoke again. "What about Ivan? It fits both a cute little Pokémon, and it also fits its  
>evolved forms, I'm betting." She spoke. I had no response. As I did with Dad and Adonis, I quickly said my thanks and good byes, before hanging up.<p>

Ivan. Geez, I couldn't turn away Mom's suggestion. My Poliwag was going to be named Ivan. That's pretty terrible.

We continued training that week. I caught a new Pokémon, but I knew now that everyone had to work hard as a team. Ivan proved to be a little bit of a pacifist when it came to it. He pretty much was the punching bag of Mars and Adonis for a bit before we found out that our new partner never struck back.

Mars and Adonis were mad at me when I made them apologize along with me. I couldn't blame them, though. I just wanted Ivan to feel comfortable around us. At least comfortable enough to show me what he can do.

This happened maybe two or three days later in the week. I was finally done training with Adonis, so I just had one more thing to do; train Ivan. Surprisingly enough, he was a lot easier to communicate than Adonis when I first got him. He happily showed me what I wanted to see. With a rock by the ponds where we met, he used a sharp Water Gun, a flurry of Bubble, and a set of Doubleslap. I was pretty impressed at the long range moves. When Morty's Ghosts try to use Hypnosis, we can use Water Gun and Bubble to ward them off. I could already tell Ivan was going to play a big part in this battle. I now had a Water Pokémon. But soon, he'll become a big strong Poliwrath. Another piece to my goal; a Fighting type team.

Ivan used another move on the rock. It didn't work, however, but I was intrigued.

"Hey Ivan, do you want to show me that attack? It doesn't look like it's doing much on that rock." I laughed at the end. Mars and Adonis were playing around nearby. I saw them and smiled.

I was happy that Mars finally got that training partner. It what we set out to do that day for the Bug Catching Contest.

"Poli! Poli Poli!" I heard Ivan say. I turned my attention back to Ivan. He nodded at my question. So I looked at him, and waited for his move. Eventually, I began to look drowsy staring at him. Something about Ivan was just so… sleep inducing… I yawned a little, and I tried to look away. Ivan on the other hand, kept going over to where I would see him. I began to snap out of it when I realized what was going on.

Ivan's stomach spiral was… spiraling. It was Hypnosis. Hypnosis was Ivan's final move. I was so happy, yet so tired at the same time. No wonder it didn't work on the rock. It only works on things that can fall asleep. This was one of the attacks I dreaded the most. But of course I catch a Pokémon that can use it! The move began to overpower my will to stay awake.

"I-Ivan! O-kay… You can… stop no-" I managed to let out before I yet out one final yawn. The move was a success, and I drifted into sleep. All I knew when I woke up was that I ran out of Pokémon food.

That sneaky Tadpole Pokémon. I was going to work him _hard_.

* * *

><p>Morty's Gym was the same as it was last week. The wooden floors were somewhat shinier and more polished than before, though. I was greeted by the referee before seeing myself eye-to-eye to Morty himself. He showed me a pleased grin before greeting me.<p>

"Ah, you're back. I hope you and your Pokémon are better this time around. I don't sense the same amount of insecurity as before." He smiled further. I didn't care about his perceptions this time. I was ready to take him on this time. I had Mars, Adonis, and Ivan all ready to go! I went to the challenger's side just like before, as Morty took his stand. The referee began to announce the rules but I stopped listening. _Four_-_on_-_four_ _Pokémon_ _each,_ _only_ _challengers_ _may_ _substitute_ _whatever_ _whatever_. I knew the rules. I knew I still had a disadvantage both typing wise and number wise.

I guess I acted too quickly when I sent out Mars. Mars was going to be my first Pokémon up again. His Bullet Punch didn't let me down before, and we've only gotten stronger with it. Still, the referee and Morty started giggling to themselves.

"You're pretty determined today, aren't you? Well, I guess since you know the rules, it isn't necessary to continue, right?" Morty said, before signaling the referee to start the match already. I suddenly got embarrassed knowing I cut the referee off. Morty I guess sensed this, and sent out his Pokémon.

"Alright, Gastly, go!" Morty announced, cutting my embarrassment. I felt my determination coming back seeing the ball of gas stare at us. It was his first Pokémon. Out of the four that were going to battle my three.

"Mars, Bullet Punch!" I yelled. Mars charged with speed, while the Gastly didn't move. It felt odd, since I swear that it was fast last time. Mars was too fast for it I guessed, and was knocked out just like before. Surprisingly faster than I thought. The referee announced the knockout, and Morty returned his Pokémon, grinning. He took a pause before taking out another Pokéball, but he still stalled when releasing it. He wasn't looking at me, the referee, or his Pokéball. I looked over where he was staring.

Suddenly Mars began to pant hard before screaming in pain. The Gastly did something to Mars. I looked over at Morty, who smiled gratuitously.

"That's Curse. Gastly could have moved out of the way, but why bother when she was ready to be knocked out? And now your Hitmonchan will feel her influence until he's knocked out little by little, which shouldn't be long now." He said, finally releasing his next Pokémon. Unsurprisingly, it was his Haunter. The same Haunter that wiped out _both_ Mars and Adonis.

I clenched my teeth. Mars was working hard all this week. I needed to push him as much as I could before Curse's toll took him out.

"Haunter, Hypnosis!" Morty ordered. And we were ready this time around. I ordered a Bullet Punch, and Mars followed through. The Haunter tried once more to grab Mars' arms to hold him to pull off Hypnosis, but Mars used Mach Punch to break free. And by break free, I mean completely phase though the attempted hold. Both Morty and Haunter looked in awed at this combination.

I grinned when Mars socked the Haunter in the face with Bullet Punch. It was something that was Ivan's idea during training. In order to avoid his own Hypnosis attack, Adonis and Mars just gave a punch to the stomach. Ivan stopped trying to put us to sleep after that.

And so did Morty's Haunter.

I called for another barrage of Bullet Punch. This Haunter was strong, yes, but in the end it wasn't invincible. I didn't let up on Mars' steel punches. No way. I was going to make sure this thing went _down_!

I frowned when Mars collapsed. The damage from Curse was forgotten in my calculations. I called Mars back at the same time Morty called back his Haunter. Yep. Mars took it down before fainting. Mars did the best job he could, and I was proud of him.

"Doing a lot better now, challenger!" Morty called out to me before taking out his next Pokémon. And to my surprise, it was _another_ Haunter!

'_If_ _I_ _had_ _a_ _nickel_ _for_ _every_…' I thought to myself. But whatever. Another Haunter wasn't going to be the end of me. I knew that Adonis' new move was going to be more useful at the end of the match, so I was going to send out my newest addition.

"Ivan! Go!" I threw the Lure Ball out to release my Water type Pokémon. Morty's brow went up.

"Ah, so you caught a new Pokémon. If my memory serves correct, you want to be a Fighting type Trainer, right? A very Interesting choice for the future. No wonder you're more confident." Morty profiled once _again_. Annoyed as I was, I knew Ivan was going to be invaluable towards a Haunter.

"Ivan, Bubble!" I commanded. We went over this technique. While I worked on perfecting Mars and Adonis' power of their moves, Ivan was going to be doing the dazzling combinations! Large bubbles soon filled the arena, none of them directly touching anyone. They floated around, reflecting the area in relatively large spheres. These were to become my home advantage.

"Haunter, Shadow Ball!" Morty called. This Haunter began the offensive. Ivan began running around the battlefield, avoiding the hit. Morty shouted angrily, calling for more, but Ivan avoided all of them. He ran and ran around, eventually stopping, unscathed.

The bubbles were the key. The bubbles were large, comparable to Ivan's own size. There was no hope of the Haunter hitting us if the bubbles were both shielding Ivan and distracting our opponents. Ivan shot a Water Gun at the Ghost type, and soon began a cycle of Bubble, Shadow Ball, plenty of running around, and Water Gun. Ivan was following my commands perfectly, too. Morty began a counter attack that used our strategy against us, however.

"Haunter, Hypnosis!" he commanded. I grinned to myself, thinking about doing the same method of avoiding it.

But I saw the bubbles. They all began to reflect the Hypnosis attack. Everywhere.

The enclosed air bubbles became a moving mirror. This amplified all the angles and the reach of Hypnosis. There was no way to avoid it. Ivan collapsed on the floor, snoozing. Morty grinned, but eventually gasped at the scene of his own Gas Pokémon. Unfortunately for them, this ended up putting the Haunter to sleep too. The bubble-bounced Hypnosis ended up reflecting back at it, and it joined Ivan's naptime.

"Ivan, wake up! If you don't wake up before the Haunter does, we're done for!" I shouted desperately. Morty began trying to wake up his Pokémon too.

A random quote soon emerged from my desperate calling.

"_There's_ _no_ _point_ _of_ _doing_ _that_. _Only_ _it_ _can_ _wake_ _up_ _from_ _Hypnosis. Your yelling isn't really going to help it through this." _ I heard the blind Psychic saying. The thought of that battle alone became my driving force.

"Ivan, get up! If you don't get up before the Haunter does, you're not getting any more food for a _week_!" I threatened. I wasn't sure if this was the way to do it, but I was going to try. I was so desperate to win the Fog Badge today, and now I was completely boiling over at the thought of the Psychic Trainer. I was going to show everyone I can do this!

My determined words, or rather, hot gas, I let out began to affect the field. The bubble closest to me popped. The bubble popped at my yelling. Then one by one, they rapidly began to pop, releasing enough force to pop the one next to them, until the nearest ones around Ivan popped, waking him up. The sounds soon stunned Ivan, who still looked drowsy, back on his feet, a bit more awake and ready.

The bubbles still were popping, now heading over to the Haunter. I wasn't going to let it wake up yet.

"Give it one more Water Gun, Ivan! All you got!"

Ivan released a rush of water, straight at the Ghost Pokémon as the bubbles popped. It was a clean hit, and the Haunter went down from the accumulated damage from before. Three down, one left. I smiled. Ivan began jumping up and down in glee.

"Wag!" he yelled, assertively. I waited for Morty's last Pokémon along with him.

"Very, very interesting, challenger. Giving me quite the show today. Can you go four for four?" he asked me. I nodded. "Good. Gengar… go." He said before releasing his last Ghost type Pokémon. It emerged out on the field like a shadow creeping around. It was large, but looked very much like a Haunter with a lower body and legs. The biggest changes to me were the shrieking red eyes it now had. I would not want to see a pair of _those_ at night. I saw blur of a Shadow Ball rip through the air suddenly.

In my pondering, I didn't notice Ivan one the Gym floor, knocked out. I gasped. Then I looked back at my opponents. This was going to be a tough last Pokémon. A fast hitter. And a strong one at that.

I returned Ivan back into his ball. He lost, but I was okay with it. He did his best against the Haunter, and I knew he was going to just improve now. So was Mars. And so was my last Pokémon. I took out my said last Pokémon's Pokéball from my pocket.

"Adonis, let's finish this!" I called out, throwing the Pokéball into the field, letting Adonis come out. He stood proudly by my side. We were going to show how much we've improved. Morty smiled.

"Good. I don't feel any bit of nervousness from either of you. You two are in synch now, I believe. We won't let up, though!" Morty announced. Adonis looked his opponent in the eye. Both of them had red eyes, I noticed. Adonis was going to have to do this by himself.

"Adonis, Leer!" I made the move. Adonis needed to show them he's not to be underestimated. He glared at his opponents, and it worked. No damage was made, but it was our defiant statement that counted.

"Shadow Ball, Gengar!" It was fast, just like you'd think. Adonis, if this had been a week ago, would have totally ignored me, and gone on the offensive-defensive on his own. Today, however, we knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Adonis, use Karate Chop to block!" I ordered. Yeah. If we are going to become a working team, I had to adapt to Adonis' style as much as he had to adapt to mine. Give and take, right? That said, Adonis ran up to and took the Shadow Ball head on, and blocked it with strong willpower placed into his hands. He continued his charge forward. And the Gengar looked nervous. By the sheer strength of Shadow Ball, I guessed that it wasn't comfortable at close combat. Better for us that way.

Adonis got close. And in the end, too close. Morty called for Hypnosis.

We had no way of avoiding it. It was worse than Ivan's bubbles used as a mirror. I didn't know how to get through this one. Payback was going to take too long to execute, so we'll asleep by the time we strike. We couldn't go to sleep. One Shadow Ball was enough to take out Ivan in one shot. I couldn't risk Adonis going out like that. I wasn't going to disappoint him. Karate Chop and Low Kick wouldn't do anything either. I had last move that we could somehow use.

"Adonis, use… L-Leer!" I stammered a little, because I wasn't even sure if this was going to work. Adonis looked a little unsure himself, but I think he realized that he had to go with my judgment. He didn't want to let me down either. He sharpened his gaze on the Gengar. He gave one constant, effective, intimidating look. I saw the Gengar begin to drop it's gaze.

In the end, Adonis didn't fall asleep. His glare kept the Hypnosis from taking place. Somehow, it worked! Adonis didn't let up, though. As I commanded, he went straight for the Payback. The Gengar went back, having taken a lot of damage. We began flow just now. We didn't ease up. Adonis struck and struck again with Payback. The Gengar took all of them valiantly.

Morty called for Hypnosis again. So I countered once more with Leer. But this Hypnosis had an alternate purpose. This was to stall. It was for Adonis to drop down his guard and resort to using Leer to avoid sleep. It was Morty's purpose to stop the continuous Payback frenzy.

"Gengar, you're close! Give it the last Shadow Ball!"

That was it. His plan. I couldn't avoid it. We were too close and in too much danger. The Gengar charged the black blob. It aimed. Just one hit took Ivan out. And Adonis was going to get hit at point blank. Adonis looked like a person right about to get hit by a car.

The Gengar fired.

Adonis was struck at the point blank range. A large explosion took place in the arena, smoke clouding up the area. When the smoke began to be cleared away, I vaguely saw it.

Adonis was still standing. Scratched? More like, badly injured. He shouldn't have been able to stand up, but he did. He turned back to me, while Morty and Gengar were standing still, astonished at his willpower. Just for a second he turned. I tried to make out his face with the smoke still clearing. He smiled at me, waiting for one last command. I wanted to cry out of joy. The smoke cleared, and Morty and his Gengar went back into their positions.

Adonis wanted my command. I wasn't going to let him down. He doesn't want to let _me_ down. I began to think back right then and there.

I captured this Machop with an Escape Rope, after I missed the only Heavy Ball I had on me. I managed to talk him into becoming my Pokémon... naming him… becoming part of the team… Then he began to stop taking my orders, because I wasn't living up to his standards. He thought this was the best way of going around things, going by himself. But our first battle against Morty changed that. My defiant Machop felt depressed over losing. So I helped him regain his confidence in himself, and in turn, he accepted me as his Trainer.

Now it was time to give full support for his support.

"Payback!"

The last hit finished off the Gengar. The referee announced us as the winners. Adonis didn't have much more time before he was going to collapse himself. Morty saw this, smiled, and walked over to us after returning his last Ghost Pokémon.

"I was right. You two had problems. But you overcame them by the time you came back. And as such, here's the Fog Badge. You've truly earned this." He said, holding up the small, ghost shaped Badge to me. I was annoyed at this. No matter what happened, he was always right, somehow. It didn't matter to me though. I got my second Badge after refusing to give up. Now I felt like I could leave Ecruteak City.

That's right, I was strong now. Strong enough to go back to Goldenrod.

* * *

><p>I left behind my Pokémon in the Pokémon Center. Mars, Ivan, and Adonis did everything they could today, and I was glad. I had half a complete team there. Mars was my trustworthy first, Adonis became trustworthy second, and now Ivan became my trustworthy third. A lot was accomplished to get this Badge, and I wasn't sure if my other Badges were going to be this much work.<p>

I sat in the Trainer's Lounge one more time. I was going to go back to Goldenrod City in the early in the morning so I can make it there by tomorrow at dawn. I was getting ahead of myself, but I had three Pokémon to head back there and pass the time, so it won't be as lonely when it was just me and Mars.

There was a group of Trainers that arrived to the Pokémon Center just now. They all had bright, happy faces. Their faces signaled that they just finally made it to Ecruteak. They were getting ready to explore the city, I assumed.

Yes. The city where "The Past Meets the Present". I was finally heading out from here.

Next stop? Back to "The Festive City of Opulent Charm".

Goldenrod.

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it folks. This chapter was toughie to write, and due to Christmas, couldn't get it on time. So I hope that everyone enjoyed or is enjoying their holidays! This chapter finally introduces Ivan the Poliwag as a member of the team. Even though a new Pokemon was introduced, the spotlight was on Adonis this time around. Group dynamics are certainly improving for our MC, right? A thank you to my friends Evan and Leo, who helped with the proof reading! Next chapter, back to Goldenrod, and the introduction of a new character.<strong>


	9. Sensationalism at Large

For one, this coffee was amazing. I couldn't believe I had to spend four months without it! All those bags I bought and that instant coffee maker… They were all for nothing! I know training wasn't a luxury, but they could have told me before I did all that packing…

No matter, the coffee here in Goldenrod tasted ten times better than the one made out on the routes I went through! Seriously, I ended up having to dump all of it on Route 32 after I realized it just taking up precious space in my bag.

My name is Isidora, and I'm proud to say I am a Trainer with two legit Pokémon League Gym Badges, and four Pokémon on my side! I could just see Sebastian having a fit with jealousy seeing my Zephyr and Hive Badges. As well as those girls that just ogled at my darlings. I walked through the department store trying to find some cute outfits for them so I could go refreshed back home. I haven't told my family yet that I was back.

My four Pokémon were treading right beside me when I found the hat and scarf, and perfume aisle. Sure a certain member of my team was not fit to have a pretty hat, but the other three were. They trotted around in the aisle, trying on different things. We had a perfect ratio of two girls and two boys in my team, and I was pleased at how strong they were! Later on in the week I was going to challenge Whitney, and beat her down!

I found Jiggly with a classy white scarf and a cute strawberry colored hat on. She was extremely amazing looking. Astounding, even! She had to be, of course, to beat Violet City's Falkner. His birds were just no match for us. Bugsy of Azalea was tougher than him, but with Toby's support, we won there too.

Toby the Togepi was with my new Eevee. Getting his egg to hatch was a product of very hard work, and the incident in Violet City left me depressed for days. But then my little Spike Ball Pokémon came into my life, and I decided to leave behind the bad parts of Violet. I wasn't sure if leaving Julie with her Marill like that was the best course of action, though. Maybe it was for the best, but I knew I couldn't face her. Heck, I couldn't face myself after that episode.

I sighed, trying to remove the thoughts from my mind.

I saw my Eevee looking bored, so I returned him to his Pokéball. When he evolves, he's going to be just awesome. So I can let slide his behavior right now. He'd come appreciate fashion, _eventually_. I giggled to myself. He ended up making me lose a small fortune in the Daycare, but he was well worth it!

That said; I did need to a name for him.

I looked over to my last Pokémon, and my… not best looking one. Bella the Glooms stood there, by the perfumes, getting whiff of the different odors. No one else would try to get near her, including me. What I wanted was to evolve her and fast. I didn't walk over but I shouted at her. She did have good taste in perfume, everything aside.

"Hey Bella, rather than masking that smell, let's try to get it off permanently and evolve!" I yelled to her. She jumped up noticing my yelling, and got pumped herself up after a bit. The determined Pokémon cried "Gloom!" once before the whole floor reeked in Gloom stench when we were all asked to leave. I forgot that she releases the most horrid scents in the _universe_ when she becomes excited.

"And things were so much nicer when she was an Oddish…" I said to no one in particular on my way out. Getting Toby to behave with Jiggly was easy. Getting a name for Eevee would be easy too.

But Bella's scent would take sweat, blood, and tears to fix. I wondered to myself if I'd ever be able to hold her again without a clothespin attached to my nose.

I decided to _finally_ go back home at this point, where I watched Sebastian spit out his lemonade when I showed him my Badges.

"_Success_." I thought.

* * *

><p>The trip back to Goldenrod City was much more pleasant and less just solitary walking with Mars this time around. I mean, I love Mars. But things were much more fun with Ivan and Adonis now. With that, I ended up discovering new things about my Ecruteak troopers while out on the road.<p>

Ivan somehow loves the taste of Apricorn.

Adonis unsurprisingly hates the taste of Apricorn.

Ivan stays up much longer than everyone.

Adonis falls asleep much earlier than Mars and I.

Ivan is the last one to get ready for the road, yawning and blowing bubbles the whole time.

Adonis is the first one to wake up, and wakes everyone up using Karate Chop.

Then we all spend a good half hour of wrestling. That's pretty much how our two days went when traveling through Route 37, heading south to Route 36, and eventually reaching Goldenrod. I felt like I could start taking on Adonis a little more, but the Machop still was too much to handle. This was good however, because he was getting stronger too. There were more trainers now than when I first went through here. Although I had some loses, for the most part, I left the routes with more than twice the money that I started with. The trainers and their Pokémon weren't too interesting either. I did though find out I had a fear of Spinarak. We found a bunch of them huddled together near my bag that morning. I didn't think I was scared of them a month ago though. They all swarmed up against us, and almost poisoned Ivan with Poison Sting! Funnily enough, I remember passing some on our way to Ecruteak, and I wasn't exactly scared.

So I wondered why I suddenly screamed when I found the leader, an Ariados, out and. It took both Adonis and Mars to subdue it, sure, but… I still felt uneasy.

It ended up not being just a fear of spider Pokémon. Nope.

We stumbled across a tree of Metapod. Even when they weren't moving, I felt unnerved enough to start running. I ran from a Pineco was jumping around the path as well.

Hell, I almost ran behind Ivan to protect me from a _Caterpie_.

I realized soon after that I had a fear of Bug Pokémon. And I'm not sure where it came from. I felt silly. Weren't only girls allowed to be afraid of them?

We didn't meet any Ghost or Psychic Pokémon or Trainers that used them out on the road.

I didn't run into anyone like the Blind Psychic, for example. Which was good, I guess.

I told Isidora that I wouldn't leave Ecruteak without obtaining the Fog Badge, and that's exactly what I did. Of course, I wanted another round of coffee spitting around the kitchen table. Therefore, I made sure to sound extremely upset when I called them before leaving the Pokémon Center in Ecruteak, to make them think I had just given up. It was going to be _great_. I chuckled at my new master plan.

I wondered how Adonis and Ivan would behave with the folks at home. I guess Ivan would be adored by Isidora and Mom, while Adonis would have more fun with Dad.

"_They're both troublemakers, though_." I thought, later shrugging it off.

When we arrived at the gates of National Park, we decided to stick around for an hour before heading back to home. After all, Route 35 was still considerably long, and we deserved rest. Mars and I were taking a break on the bench. We already knew the area, and not much changed from that early morning to today's early afternoon. But Adonis loved getting into fights in the tall grass while Ivan played around in the fountain. We were all honestly having a great time.

That was until we were horribly interrupted.

"Hey, isn't that Sebastian?" I heard a boy from far away call. And the voice was familiar. I looked over, and the whole group of boys was on their way over here.

"Haha that really is him." I heard another one laugh. I heard some choking up a second later, though.

"Wait, hold one a sec. I-Is that a Hitmonchan with him?"

"No way!"

"N-No, it can't be, could it?"

The mumbles and whispers in the group continued, but their feet did not. They stopped completely, while I saw some gazes at us here and there. By now, Adonis and Ivan saw the commotion, and walked over to me, prompting more tension. I got annoyed at this point, so I decided to walk past them with my Pokémon and leave. How could they just disturb us like that? Some of the boys shook while the three Pokémon passed them, I noticed. It was pathetic.

"Did I _really_ cry everyday over these guys?" I asked Mars, loudly and putting my hands behind my head while I walked. It wasn't for them to hear, but more for Mars to give me a more emphasized shrug for a response. It did end up attracting their attention though, and that's when they started to act. Well, by acting, they just went and stood behind their leader.

Charles. His Snubbull, Bumbles as I knew him as, was right next to him.

"H-Hey, Sebastian! You can't just walk away!"

This kid and his Snubbull were the bane of Mars and me. This kid was just the worst. Was it payback time? I remembered the 'revenge' entry in my journal before I left Goldenrod. I _could _try to ignore and just leave them be, but my ego ended up forcing me to turn around. It took me a second for my plan of attack. This way I could make it look like self-defense, right?

"Sorry, I don't really talk much to kids who don't have any badges, Charles. I got kinda bored of always getting the kick off the curb." I added a sneer at the end. And he started to take the bait. Adonis gave them a yawn.

"I-I'll have you know that I beat Whitney all by myself! Don't think you're a hotshot just because you got a Badge too!" He yelled. The rest of his posse relaxed a little. I shrugged. I heard Mars giggle.

"Seriously? Just one badge? You don't think I left for almost two weeks on a picnic to Violet City where the newbies go battle Falkner, do you? Go on; ask my _Fog_ _Badge_ how it got there. Whitney was tough, sure, but I got hers. I'd try taking on Morty before talking, though. " I taunted further. Ivan blew a few bubbles in boredom.

And the taunting worked.

"Fog Badge!" I heard a chorus of boys say. I guess that's when they decided to take out their Pokéballs.

Soon I faced against a bunch of riled up boys that were more less my age. Around ten Pokémon of varying species and types were summoned, and they were all getting ready to attack us. I remembered that last time we fought them, Mars was a Tyrogue. I sighed to myself, but then I smiled.

"I didn't realize for how long I wanted to do this." I replied to the small army, who started glaring. I grinned to Mars, who gave me a wink before getting into ready position. Adonis and Ivan got themselves up and ready too. Ivan blew a few more bubbles, while Adonis swung his arms; stretching.

The boys first commanded the attacks, while I responded, giving orders.

The bunch of a few Ratatta, a couple Spearow, Caterpie (oh the horror), Nidoran, and of course Sentret and Snubbull we defeated in record time. No saving grace. Mach Punch, Low Kick, and the array of Water Gun ended the scuffle fast.

But I wasn't going to end it there. No, if I was going to take revenge, I'd be doing a full course meal.

"Ivan, please use Hypnosis." I called to Ivan, who came back from slapping a Caterpie into submission.

"Wag!" He gave me an adorable smile. The adorableness that masked the scary, demon like Pokémon inside, I thought.

He faced the boys, and did the same thing he used to do to us. He started chasing them around while letting his spiral swirl over and over. A few of the boys went to sleep fast, but a couple other began running once they realized what was going on. Adonis, Mars, and I were busy laughing by now. And Ivan _still_ wouldn't give up.

He chased all the boys until all of them were on the ground sound asleep. I had one last thing to do, though. I called over Mars and Adonis to help me drag the boys and their fainted Pokémon near the fountain. Adonis was upset we didn't actually _dump_ them into the fountain, but whatever. When that was done and over with, I took out my Pokégear.

I took a total of twenty-four pictures. Group shots, individual, even a few pictures of me sitting next to them were taken. Yup, twenty-four pictures of me and sleeping trainers with their fainted Pokémon.

I think I just filled my revenge quota for a lifetime. I was viewing them when I was stopped by my victory trophies. There was a Pokéball in the hand of the boy that used the Sentret. I wondered if Ivan didn't give him enough of a chance to send it out. Not that it mattered, since we would have won anyway. My thought process was interrupted.

"Excuse me. What _are_ you doing? D-Did you do all this to these boys!" I heard a voice call out. And that voice was _pissed_ and_ repulsed_. I turned around to find a boy around my age standing behind me. He had short blond hair, green eyes, and a nasty scowl on his face was staring at into my eyes. I was suddenly ready to beg for my life and cry.

He was my age and slightly shorter, so why was I scared of him? Most people would assume I'm being a pansy right now. So why was I scared exactly?

It was because he was in a police uniform. The blue really turned from my favorite color to more intimidating than I ever thought. He wore a cap said "GPD" on it, standing for Goldenrod Police Department, I thought. I felt a cooling breeze drape over. After a minute of silence, I managed to let something out.

"U-um Officer, this isn't what it looks…" I glanced over to the unconscious boys with their Pokémon by the fountain before letting out a light and not very convincing "like" to finish my sentence. He looked at me accusingly again.

"You know, I am _very_ strict against bullying in this area. And this is very much _worse_ than that, Trainer." He told me with an icy cold voice. I sweated thousands of bullets at every word. The way he said "Trainer" sent another shiver down my spine. I was more afraid of this Officer than Morty's Ghosts! Though, I think I would prefer the Officer to a giant Ariados if anything…

I stayed silent. Life wasn't being very fair to me right now. Wait, I've seen this on my favorite crime show. The bullied becomes the bully and gets reprimanded. Was that _me_? Great, just great. I was about to say something to weakly defend me, but the Officer spoke first.

"I'm going to have to take you to the station." He said, taking out a Pokéball. He released to send out a Growlithe. This Fire type was the standard unit that all policemen had on them. He took a bit, trying to remember the protocol that needed to be followed.

"Alright so, please return your Pokémon to not a cause a sce-"

"Hey, what are you doing to my brother?" I heard a girl yell, stomping her way over here.

National Park was a recurring cycle of me getting into trouble, and Isidora saving me.

* * *

><p>"And then <em>I<em> had to tell the police guy about that gang that always banged on him, and then he left without any more problems!" Isidora told my parents. I sighed while on the couch, while Mars was eating some sandwiches with Adonis that Mom made. Ivan was exploring our home by himself.

"Have they really treated you that poorly before, Sebastian?" asked Dad. Like hell I'd tell them much about it. So instead, I just shrugged. I gave the look to tell them to drop the subject, which they ended up doing. Mom's face did light up, remembering something.

"Sebastian, I forgot to tell you. There have been a few petty crimes around the city lately after you left." Mom said. "Because of that, they've installed more officers here. Try to not make enemies with them, alright? I guess that's why that officer was really fixed on taking you in." she cautioned me. Dad nodded his head in agreement.

"There's been a gang stirring up trouble, and I don't want them to think that my son is part of it." He reassured. I wondered if I could have a sandwich.

"Okay, then. I'll try to stay out of trouble." I said. I wasn't sure if it was a promise, since I knew that my team and I could take care of ourselves.

No coffee was spat out when I showed them my Fog Badge. Sure a few surprised looks, but nothing that needed to be cleaned up.

"… What, no one's going to at least pretend to throw a party?" I asked.

"Not a chance, _Blackbelt_. We won't buy into that whole acting dreary thing to fool us!" Isidora retorted. I felt my face get a little red. And she noticed. "Oh, are you a little _embarrassed _about it? How cute!" she mocked. My embarrassed I heard my parents giggling.

So then I challenge her attitude.

"Isidora, let's battle!" I announced, getting up from the couch. Ivan found his way over to me. Dad got a surprised look on his face, while Mom looked with my Pokémon to see Isidora's reaction.

She had the most surprised look on her face. Completely in shock. I wondered for a second if her face was going to stay like that forever. Even _I_ got a little uncomfortable.

"I don't _b-battle_ anymore, Sebastian. You should know that…" she said softly. The sound in her voice left her vulnerable to nitpicking. I didn't let up, though. If she was going to tease me, she better have something to back it up with.

"Aww, come on sis, don't act so weak! Everyone knows how strong you are compared to me. You should have no problem, right?" decided to press her a little further. I don't know what came over me then. Suddenly, I just wanted to have a battle with her.

"I'm not going to battle you. In fact, I don't want to battle ever _again_! Not you, Chuck, or even Champion Lance for all I care!" she hit a high note when saying the last sentence. I dropped my mouth at that point while my parents tried getting a grasp on what just happened. She noticed us. "I'm sorry, but I'll excuse myself." She said before walking back to her room.

"What's up with her?" I asked my parents. My dad just shrugged.

I wondered what got her so mad.

* * *

><p>The next day, we explored Goldenrod as a quartet for the first time. Every time Adonis and Ivan found interest in a store or something, Mars would explain to them in Pokémon speak. We walked around looking for battles. I wanted to stay in Goldenrod for maybe another day or two before leaving. I'd be leaving to Violet, probably. Loop around to Azalea back here after. I guess it was the best course of plan, though I'd have four Badges when I'm done. It's a better plan to go get the easier Badge first, since it was closer anyway.<p>

Okay _fine_, Azalea was close too, but I did not want to go through a forest that was filled with Bug Pokémon just to fight a Bug type _Gym_.

It came across my mind then that I'd be getting a disadvantage at the Violet City Gym, and it wouldn't be so easy getting hard hits on Bugs in Azalea.

I saw my three Pokémon chatting along, and decided ignore that thought. After all, after Morty's Gym, I felt that we were up for anything!

We went to the Department Store to buy some supplies. I mean, if we got stocked up now, I wouldn't have to worry about it for later, right?

Of course, the thought of my Pokémon behaving took place a bit after.

We bought our fair share of Potions, Revives, some mail (my parents told me to write those postcards to them from time to time), Escape Rope, and some Repels to keep away weak Pokémon. And let's not leave out Pokémon food and water. I did learn something out on the road. Ivan enjoyed Apricorn, and they were free, and filled him up right away. I looked at some of the TMs they had for sale, but none of my Pokémon would really benefit. I saw Headbutt, but I thought about Ivan or Mars using it on a tree, only for a swarm of Beedrill to come out. I made sure to put it down after that mental image. We took a break at the rooftop after our shopping was done.

I took out two packed sandwiches for Mars and Adonis, while giving a blue Apricorn for Ivan.

It was the first time that the three of us ate out like this. We couldn't wrestle without being kicked out, nor could we just fool around playing games. Even so, we stayed pretty happy. It was our first day of pure relaxation in a long while. Now I was starting to feel attached to my Pokémon. The way that Adonis would do something stupid for me and Mars to scold him, the way that Mars stole Adonis' water bottle before getting into a short scuffle, while Ivan just stood there and laughed along, I felt like we were becoming a family here.

I sipped at my lemonade before getting everyone's trash as they left to explore a little. Even though they were all super strong fighters (and tadpole…thing), they did act like children. At least they didn't leave behind trash behind out on the road. There were multiple people doing just what we were doing, lounging around, either with other people or their Pokémon. Ivan stayed by me though.

I spit out my lemonade when I heard people complaining over "A damned Machop stirring up trouble". I quickly turned around to see Adonis, holding a purse, running for the stairs. Soon enough, I started running with Ivan for the same set of stairs while catching up with Mars, who caught wind of the incident a bit later than us.

We kept running down set of stair after set of stair while running into hordes of people just doing their shopping. Adonis didn't stop at all though, even though I tried yelling for him. I didn't know exactly why he was carrying a purse, but I seriously hoped that Adonis didn't just grab a purse and ran. There wasn't anyone running behind us I thought, so why would he have?

I remembered the TM guy in Ecruteak. Adonis' made up a plan that involved stealing the TM, and I completely gave into that. I even ended up becoming an accomplice. Maybe Adonis thought it was okay for him to steal. I… I just didn't know what to do. So I kept running.

We got to the second to last floor before I found Adonis and another Pokémon.

A Growlithe had Adonis pinned down on the floor, purse still in hand, while I slowed down, a whole crowd watching us. I didn't know what to do before, but now I wanted to call Ivan to use Water Gun, grab Adonis, and just _run_ for it, but I knew it wouldn't have ended as smoothly like in Ecruteak.

I was then put in cuffs from behind. I think I died a little inside. I was going to be locked up forever now, and there was a whole _damn_ crowd to watch.

"Alright, now I got you, Sebastian Eastwood! You're under arrest for public theft. Your Pokémon is your responsibility, _Trainer_." I didn't recognize the voice until I heard the 'Trainer' remark. I turned around to find my Police Officer boy from yesterday. While I didn't know how he found out my name, he had a widened grin on his face, full of accomplishment.

I of course was terrified that I broke down crying. I sniffled and whimpered like a kicked Growlithe. Not my proudest moment in life. Not at all. I looked over at my Pokémon.

Mars looked shocked, and scared. Although he tried to keep a strong front by getting into ready position. I didn't understand why though, since we weren't in a battle or anything. Ivan looked confused. He then blew an awkward bubble. It floated to the Officer's side before it popped. He flinched slightly, loosening his grip. Still, I couldn't bring myself to break free. Adonis was still struggling underneath the Growlithe, who kept him under pressure. I looked back at the Officer, and he looked slightly uncomfortable.

Mind you, I was still crying like a baby.

By now a full crowd had taken place to view my public humiliation. I just wanted to sit in the corner and die. It was just that horrible! I furthermore clenched my eyes shut while biting at my lip to stop my sobbing. I tasted some blood after a while.

It was then when I saw a Growlithe fly across the room into the crowd of bystanders. Then I saw the same group split when Adonis came charging through.

"A-Ad-Ado-dis hood ohn" I tried calling him in between sobs. At this point, I broke free from my keeper, and ran for the set of stairs Adonis went through. Surprisingly, I didn't fall down. I saw Mars and Ivan go right behind me, while I head the Officer yelling my name.

I entered the first floor of the Department Store. Apparently, the commotion didn't get down here yet. So I guess why everyone stopped to see the boy with a burning red face, tears down his face, and sobbing. Soon after Ivan and Mars caught up with me; still looking for Adonis. A second after the Police Officer with his Growlithe showed up. I made no attempt to get free when he grabbed on to me again.

"H-Hold still! You're not getting away, Growlithe look for the Machop!" he ordered sternly. The Fire type soon ran after him.

"Geez, you're such a tough guy to catch! What a pai-"

"Oh, did you find this! Thank you! What a sweet Pokémon!" I heard a voice say. In fact the voice was both familiar and powerful. Powerful in the sense that it completely cut off the Officer. I heard Machop speak and point a little, while the Growlithe whined a little. Then I saw the woman who thanked Adonis come by. The pink hair was enough to see who it was.

"W-Whitney…" I mumbled. I wasn't sobbing like crazy, but I was having difficulties talking. The Officer tensed up.

"Oh, you're the challenger from almost a month ago! How are… you?" she was cheery until she saw my beating face. I felt the Officer's grip tighten again.

"T-This Pokémon Trainer's Machop was caught running around disturbing shoppers while carrying a purse. It was assumed that it was just stolen." He stuttered a bit, but kept strong.

"Oh, it that what all this was about? Really? Seriously? That's my purse. I left it behind on the rooftop during my lunch break, and I just remembered that I forgot it when I got to the Gym! A Pokémon tried doing a good deed by returning it, and this is how we treat them and their Trainers?" She scolded the young Officer.

I couldn't stop but laughing. Hard and loud. It was just something I was compelled to do during the events of today.

This was just ridiculous.

* * *

><p>I arrived home later that day after Whitney forced the Officer to apologize over and over for causing a scene. When she finally let him go, I looked like he was about to cry! Of course, <em>I<em> cleaned myself up in the Department Store so I didn't look like such a mess. I returned my Pokémon right away, though. This was enough excitement for them for the day. In the end, I kinda wished we were on the road.

The day was nearing to an end, but when I opened the door home, I was met with a Corsola tackle. I was knocked down to the floor, and I had to quickly remove Lola the Corsola off of me.

"Sis! What was that for?" I yelled. I just wanted to go sleep now. Why did this have to happen now? Isidora came to the door.

"I thought about it. Really, really hard. Quality thoughts, you know."

"And that would be…?"

"We battle at dawn tomorrow."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. And I decided something else, too."

"And that…is?

"If I win, you have to run me some errands."

Everything aside from that stalker Officer, revenge, and the Department Store episode, my second to last day in Goldenrod began its end.

* * *

><p><strong>And there's that way overdue chapter done. I started the week after Christmas, but I just couldn't get it look right. This was the best that I could do in the end. Some more insight to Isidora and and a brand new character here, while revealing Sebastian's new fear of Bug types (whose cause we know, but will be put out there for those who forgot)! Anyway, next chapter concludes this set of Goldenrod chapters, but after you've gone down and over from Violet to Azalea, guess where we're heading back to! RC would be amazing, just like always. If the next chapter is not out next Sunday, I promise to take off the Updates Sunday, but I'll still work to get them out as soon as possible! Please bear with me, kind reader!**


	10. Stripped

Harry was taking a bath while I watched television in our room. It was only a few days that we've arrived here from Viridian. We didn't have any Pokémon on us, so all we could do is get a part time job. And that's only for money to buy. That's food. That's why this Pokémon Center was a blessing. We were able to spend as much time as we could in here. When I bought our flights here, I also had to get fake Trainer IDs for the both of us. Back in Viridian I was always caring for Harry, Dad, and Theo. So I never got a chance to get Harry his own ID and his own Pokémon. That made me the worst, now that I look back. Harry was seven years old, and was already begging for a Pokémon and license.

And yet neither Dad nor Theo could get him one.

They were useless. Dad was a lost clause. Because of him, our family was in ruin. That's the reason I ran away to get Harry and I out of here. And Theo never amounted to anything either, even though he was the oldest out of Dad's three sons at seventeen. He was just as bad as he was. Except, he never once cared about us. Which already made me prefer him to Dad.

I didn't really pay attention to the game show we were watching. Harry always asked me for a lotto scratch card, and even though I've rejected it every time due to us needing grocery money, we watched the game shows that would make the bearer a millionaire, just for the fun of it.

But I didn't want that. I didn't want to have all that money. Of course, I didn't really want to be in poverty like right now either. But would winning that cash make us happy? I doubted it. What would happen if we were on that game show and won the roulette spin?

Most likely, I'd think back to us before, and kill myself from guilt. I'd die from the guilt of me not being able to help all those people that were like us. I paid attention back to the game show, where the contestant ended up spinning the "Zero".

"_How lucky for him. Now he won't be able to get a free ride in life." _I thought. Yeah, I was being sarcastic, and yeah, I was being hypocritical. I didn't care though. We were in the Pokémon Center for free from our fake Trainer IDs, sure, but we were comfortable. But compared to what we've been through, it's not much.

"Hey, Arick, aren't you gonna shower too?" asked Harry. I didn't even notice him getting out, dressed in his pajamas. He resembled me a lot more than he resembled Theo. Which I guess made him easier to care for. I ruffled his hair.

"Yeah, I'll be going now. Hope you saved some hot water." I replied. Times like this, I'd forget that the Pokémon Center wasn't our home.

I walked out of our room to the bathroom while Harry went back to watch the next game show that was on. Personally, I'd love to tell Harry about how much I hated these shows. But why would I want to put him down? After all, he's the biggest reason why I decided to run away.

The day after, I went to work as usual. It was just part time while Harry just stayed in the Pokémon Center or strolled around. On occasion, he'd tell me how he helped Nurse Joy run errands.

I would prefer that a _lot_ more than working at the Pokémart. It was boring. If you asked anyone else working here with me, they'd say "the best part of the job is the different people we get as customers every day!" Or something similar. I found all the new Trainers coming here annoying, for one.

Though I'd never complain about the job that's keeping me afloat here.

Violet City was going to become mine and Harry's new hometown. I had to do what I can to preserve that. And that meant taking up on these Trainers requests.

A few days later, Harry and I are setting up a tent. I'm unemployed and homeless. He kept humming to himself while helping me pin down the corners, but I knew he was crushed when Nurse Joy got the phone call and promptly kick us out. And this is considering that Nurse Joy did that while looking seemingly happy. Now, Harry must have been crushed, but I was crushed and _pissed_.

Dad had called the police telling them of our escape, and how our licenses were fakes. Eventually word got around to Violet City. We _then_ were promptly kicked out of the Pokémon Center by Nurse Joy for taking up a room that was for actual Trainers. I had an additional metaphorical kick in the chest when I found out that for lying about my age on the license, I was fired from the Pokémart. We bought ourselves a tent from my wide eyed co-workers with the money I earned at the _same_ place I worked at. Luckily the guys there pretended not to know who I was. Not that I wanted them to.

So here we were. I sulked by myself that our plan didn't work. I stayed quiet when I heated up the canned food we stocked up on before. Harry noticed it while eating, though. We saved up cups and paper plates before we left the Center. Camping out near the bridge by the ponds ended up being a horrible idea. At night, we were attacked by swarms of bugs. They kept going at Harry too.

"I'm sorry, Harry." I said.

"It's not your fault, Arick… I… I'm having tons of fun camping out like this with you!" he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Harry." I replied. I didn't even mean to reply. Just slipped out.

"It's not your fault…" he replied again. I kept quiet this time though. He stopped talking to, as we finished our meal in silence.

I did wonder to myself who had worse problems than we did now.

The next morning, hope came our way. We were woken up by a bald head, in traditional Buddhist robes. The funny part was that he was no older than me.

"Um, excuse me. But this area here is not for camping, misters. My Elder told me to ask you to please leave the premises if you're going to be staying here like this." He said.

By his clothes, the reference of an "Elder", and the place where we decided to set up our tent was, I concluded that this was a Sage from the Sprout Tower. It took me while to respond. If I wasn't just getting up, I would have not been so painfully honest.

"…Sorry, but me and my brother don't have anywhere to go. We're not Trainers, so we can't stay at the Center anymore. We'll leave right away."

He looked at me, then to Harry, who was just getting up. He was covered in a bunch of mosquito bites. Bugs always did prefer him to me. He was a much sweeter person than I was, I always thought.

"So you two have absolutely no place to go?" he asked. By now, the sunbeams were hitting his head at the angle to make him shine.

"No, we don't."

"Hm… Then I'll offer you a deal. I used to be in the same situation as you before, but the other Sages here found and took me in. And it's not everyday occurrence where we have a recently unoccupied room."

I looked at him strangely. Harry came up to us. The Sage greeted him formally before continuing his monologue.

"I think I could get you a room. But you'd have to come to work here as a Sage here." He looked at Harry. "I think he's a little too young to work, but he could definitely come live with you. We provide a room, food, water, and clothing. In turn, you can help us out do our Sage duties as one of us."

He stopped to see if I had any questions or concerns with the deal. But he just met my frozen face.

Yes. Totally, yes. This was the best thing that could happen. This Sage here became my savior. Since I said nothing, he just went along to finish.

"But our work is very, very straining, and if you don't have a _soul_ to work with, I'd suggest just leaving and find a new tent space. But, I'll give you an hour to decide what you want to do. I'll come back for your answer alright? By the way, just call me Victor if you decide to stop by." he finished and walked away seeing my unopened mouth, leaving Harry and I time to recollect and come up with an answer.

"… What do you want to do, Arick?" Harry asked me. He looked so uncomfortable, trying not to scratch his bites, failing miserably.

Yes we were miserable. I would prefer all and everything to get away from this. I had my answer the moment the Sage began speaking.

Only twenty five minutes later, we showed up at the door to the Sprout Tower's entrance. We had our backpacks filled, our tent folded, and our food all cleaned up. Greeted by another Sage, I asked for Victor.

He looked very surprised to see us get ready so fast.

"Boy, you guys sure are fast. Have you thought about your decision, I'm guessing?"

And some robes and a shaved head later, I was ready to become the youngest Sage in the Tower at ten years old. My name is Arick.

* * *

><p>Sebastian Eastwood was my target.<p>

I had been positioned as the rookie officer at the Goldenrod Police Department for almost three weeks, and I was finally able to find somebody to catch and arrest.

The Violet City Police Department ended up transferring a few of us to Goldenrod to keep an eye on some delinquents that started popping up. They've been raiding a few places at a time, but apparently the citizens here were getting into a fret.

And I actually ended up liking Goldenrod City in the time I've been here. Nice and bustling. I'd love to take Harry out to see this place.

Anyway, back on topic. Ever since I saw this kid beat up a bunch of other boys and their Pokémon, concluding with taking _pictures_ of them being unconscious, I decided to make him my first capture. Of course, his sister ended up coming to back him up, and I was presented with news that these boys were the ones that picked on him from the start.

But I knew that was just bologna. Obviously the sister was just covering for him. So I decided to make a search for this delinquent.

When I found his name being Sebastian Eastwood, I ended up trailing him to see what suspicious activities he was part of. I watched from afar at the rooftop of the Department Store eating with his Pokémon, waiting for him to meet up with someone, steal something, or whatever. I was planning on catching him today, and bringing in him to the station. That way I can start on the road to a promotion and a raise!

For Harry's sake.

But as soon as his Machop started a scene by running with somebody's purse, just as Douglass the Growlithe and I were so close to getting our culprit, the Gym Leader just had to get in the way.

Sebastian definitely made me feel uncomfortable when he started crying, but he couldn't fool me! I knew that he must have been a cold, remorseless guy. He just had to be. He fooled Whitney. And in the end, she called to complain about me. So I was told to lay off Sebastian, but I know I was right! And today I was going to catch him. Without a doubt. I learned the virtue of patience in Violet City. But I also learned that with hard work, I could feel like I'm living. That's right. If I worked hard and patiently, I would catch him. And start climbing the Police Department ladder.

For Harry's sake.

I heard my Pokégear go off early in the morning. So I answered while walking to National Park with Douglass in the cool crisp morning hours of the day. Douglass was the Growlithe I was assigned to, as every officer had one. From Violet City to here, he's always been ready at my command.

"Hello?"

"Arick, hey!" I heard Harry's voice pop up.

"Hey Harry, what's up. Did the guys try to shave your head again?"

"No! I told them that I like my hair… but I just wanted to know how you've been."

"Just fine, supposed to be patrolling National Park and the Global Terminal, but I'm on my way on catching somebody right now. How are things over there?" I knew that the Global Terminal could wait now. National Park was where Sebastian would spend all his mornings at.

"Oh, good luck! And for the record, Victor says hi. And Donald and the other guys are out doing errands for Elder Lee, but they told me to tell you that they're cheering you on!" He told me. That made me happy. No matter how far away we are, it's always nice to hear from them. Harry stayed behind in the room we had a few months ago before I decided to become an officer. I'd be paying rent though, but that's where this job comes in. From being a Sage, I learned how to eject conflict from myself. So by becoming an officer, I can start ejecting conflict from spreading in society. Elder Lee told me that when I grew in interest. And he told me that I could work and send minimum rent for Harry to stay here. They were always too good for me.

"Thanks, tell them that I'm always thinking of them, alright Harry?"

"Okay, got it. Good luck catching…." He started.

"Sebastian. Sebastian Eastwood. And thanks." I finished his sentence and hung up.

When I arrived at National Park, I saw a battle going on. It was my target battling with his sister that stopped me from apprehending him yesterday. I concealed myself behind some bushes to avoid detections. I wanted to see how this played out. I saw two Pokémon on the field, a Togetic and a Hitmonchan. I recognized the Hitmonchan from yesterday during the Department Store ordeal, but I assumed the Togetic was his sister's. It looked strong too.

"Mars; Mach Punch!" I saw Sebastian command.

"It's not going to work, Sebastian! We already went through this! Toby, Aerial Ace!" I heard her say. Obviously she had the advantage. The Hitmonchan threw very fast punch at it, but in the end it was the air assault that made the bigger impact.

"Rrg, Mars, Bullet Punch. Take him out!" Sebastian yelled again. Has he tried punching a bird before? Because I didn't see how move was going to be any different than this one.

"Aerial Ace, finish them off!"

Then end resulted in a win for the sister. The Togetic landed the hit flawlessly while the shaky Bullet Punch just couldn't find its mark on the target. I saw the difference in level too. The Hitmonchan was only half as strong as the Togetic, maybe a little more. The quick moves it used to avoid the punches weren't hard to pull off, but counter it with a strong Aerial Ace like that took a lot of hard training. I felt wowed.

Sebastian returned his Pokémon, while the Togetic went on the girl's shoulder, resting.

"There, we battled. You satisfied now?" she asked with her hands at her hips. So Sebastian was the one who challenged her.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, at least Fake Out managed to hit. I guess that's a start."

"No _duh_. Not many things can be prepared for that move. But overall, you need work on facing Flying types. I mean, you don't think that Fighting types are just weak to Psychic, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't think we were that off though. We just needed a little more prepping. If Mars faced Jiggly, it would have been easier!" I heard him say.

_And_ _wow_. _This kid just liked using excuses! _

"Well, it wouldn't have been much different. Jiggly's pretty airborne too. While you'd try to hitting her with wild punches, she would just float up, up, and away just use Hyper Voice. Rinse and repeat." I heard Sebastian groan.

_Serves you right for making an excuse for losing like that!_

"Alright, so I lost. So what's the errand you need me to do?" he asked. Errand, huh?

"I'll tell you at home alright? It's kinda complicated. But you're going to Violet City tomorrow, so have fun!" I heard her say mareepishly. Funny too. The sister might be more criminal than her brother. But the mention of Violet City got me curious. Douglass tried barking at a Ratatta, but I managed to return him before he could. After all, I didn't want my cover blown.

"Fine, but it better not involve me in any boy trouble, or I'm tell-"he began before sharply stopping.

I looked at where his attention was grabbed, and to my surprise, it was the band of boys from yesterday. And they were all out with their Pokémon. I saw Sebastian getting unnerved from a Caterpie.

"Sebastian, nothing personal, but we kinda want revenge and the like for yesterday." One of the boys said, and I wasn't surprised.

"Uh, if you guys want a battle, I'm open for it, but… I'm short a Pokémon. I'm sorry, Charles." He said casually, giving a glare to his sister. Another boy stood forward, and took out a Pokéball. There was a Sentret on his shoulder.

"Nah, they aren't going to battle. I am. I didn't get a chance to bring this Pokémon out before that Poliwag used Hypnosis. So I thought it'd be appropriate to introduce him in a fair battle." He explained. I saw Sebastian murmur to himself.

"Alright, but…"

I wanted to see _this_ excuse.

"Um, I don't know your name, Sentret guy." He said weakly. I almost collapsed. The 'Sentret guy' looked offended, while some other boys giggled.

"Sander. " he replied. I saw Sebastian grin.

"Alright Sander. I wanted to thank you for sending me that Scyther that day. If I didn't have to spend a day running from a… B-Bug type, I wouldn't be here with anyone other than Mars, and without any Badges. So thanks." He said. He stuttered on the word Bug. Now I heard Sander laugh.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of Bug Pokémon now? Because I found this one in a neat little Sport Ball. And can you guess what was in it?" he said to himself, before throwing the ball, releasing the Pokémon inside.

It was green, had large scythes, and fierce eyes. I heard Sebastian hold in a shriek from the look on his face. The Scyther that was released look bloodthirsty to me.

"Watching this battle, Officer?"

"Yeah, this could get really go- wait what-"

Sebastian's sister was crouching right next to me.

"I saw you when Sebastian and I were battling. But wow, you're really stalking him!" she exclaimed lousily.

"I'm trying to catch a criminal, ma'am. Please do not interfere with my investigation." I responded, getting back to the battle. Sebastian sent out his Machop. Adonis was his name, I think. Isidora made a whimpered sound.

"I'm watching from here in case that Scyther ends up going haywire. I don't really like Bug Pokémon, though I think Sebastian's terrified of them even more than I am. I dunno why." She said. Interesting.

In the end, his Machop was taking Wing Attack after Wing Attack with no saving grace. He got a few Karate Chops in, but they were weak and ineffective.

"Adonis, come on, we can't let that thing beat us!" I heard Sebastian yell. His sister turned to me, her Togetic in her arms.

"You know, Sebastian isn't a bad person. He's trying to become strong. Find his inner strength or whatever Blackbelts train for. But his motive isn't power or general anarchy, so he's not one of the delinquents you're searching for, sorry."

She just struck me down with words. I couldn't say anything back. I stayed quiet, thinking to myself while watching the battle. Adonis the Machop was laid out on the ground, fainted, when Sebastian returned him. But Sebastian sent out his Poliwag after, pushing him just as hard with motivating words. And the Poliwag _was_ fast too. A Hypnosis hit, and then it began to use a flurry of Water Gun at the unconscious Scyther.

It ended up going down afterward.

"See? He's not the type of person who would get into trouble just for nothing. I'm much worse than him." His sister finished, before getting up.

"Okay, so you guys can just go home now, we don't need any more fuss." She said. The other boys went up to Sentret guy (couldn't remember his name; he wasn't very unmemorable) to cheer him up. They all looked at Sebastian, and walked away. They didn't even look mad this time around.

Sebastian returned his Poliwag back into his ball, and put the Lure Ball away. After that he and his sister walked away out of National Park.

But I wasn't going to stop my prying. Not yet. If Sebastian wasn't part of the group of delinquents, I knew that he attracted trouble.

* * *

><p>They went all the way to the Pokémon Center. Sebastian left all three of his Pokémon in Nurse Joy's care, while I saw Sentret guy hand in a Pokéball. His sister handed over her Togetic. While the Sentret guy went to meet up with the rest of the boys, Sebastian and his sister went into the Trainer's lounge. I rushed over after releasing Douglass out. There was yelling in there, probably caused by Sebastian. Of course then there was more screaming when I came in.<p>

"D-D-Dog! Go-Go away! Shoo!" Sebastian's sister yelled at Douglass. In the background I heard Sebastian and another Trainer yelling at each other. The boy had black, rather long, messy hair, while wearing a teal trench coat.

"I _already_ said that my Pokémon were with Nurse Joy, that's why I'm here, Psychic _freak_!"

"Why are you getting so rowdy? Why are you so easy to provoke, _Blockhead_?"

"Would it kill you to have some sort of emotion other than stinking arrogance for once?"

"Why, so I can stop thinking logically and end up like you?"

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?"

This argument was something that could only come out of a story. Name calling, really? That and Sebastian's sister yelling her vocal cords out at Douglass made this whole mess very uncomfortable.

But I was the one with the officer badge, right?

"Everyone be quiet!" Everyone turned to Nurse Joy. Yeah, she stopped everyone, not me. "Please, there are many Pokémon here that are resting, and they need quiet to recover! Please think about them before causing a scandal!" she exclaimed. And she was way more effective that I would have been. I returned Douglass, causing Sebastian's sister to calm down, but notice me.

"Hey, Officer, what are you doing here? I thought I told you that who you're looking for is not Sebastian!" she scolded me. And the funny part it I was right. Everywhere Sebastian went, trouble was stirred.

* * *

><p>Her name was Isidora. Finally learned it. I had to introduce myself too. The four of us were very uncomfortably sitting in a table.<p>

"_So a Trainer, a Policeman, a Psychic, and a girl walk into a Pokémon Center_" I heard Victor's voice say in my head. Only he would make a joke like that right now. Of course, I'd prefer a joke like that the awkward silence, which was conveniently broken by Sebastian. He turned to the Psychic, reaching for something in his pocket.

"You uh, dropped this before so here…" he paused for a second. "uh, Mark." He handed over what looked like a Trainer license.

"So you know my name now. Congrats." Mark said. He didn't look straight at Sebastian. That was odd. I heard Sebastian sigh. Isidora ended up making all of us sit in a table together to talk about what on earth happened to make all of us get on each other's nerves.

"Come on, I'm not letting any of you leave until this atmosphere stops being awkward and tense!" Isidora barked. I groaned a little.

"So, Blockhead, what are you doing here? Weren't you heading towards Ecruteak last time I saw you?" Mark asked. I guess Blockhead was term of affection.

"I live here, _Psychic_. I got my Fog Badge, and now I'm back." He looked at his sister. "But tomorrow I'm leaving for Violet City to do an errand and challenge the Gym." He finished.

"What a coincidence, I'm going there too. There are _Psychic_ types around the Ruins of Alph, so why not?" he said, tauntingly. I felt the malice everywhere. But surprisingly, the tense atmosphere started to drop.

"Great, why don't you go together then? You're both Trainers, and I think that you two would make a great team." Isidora said. I didn't even notice the coffee she was holding. I wanted to ask if I could have some, since I needed some energy after this leeching conversation.

"I don't think it'd be a bad idea… What do you say, Mark? Why not go to Violet together. Maybe we can learn to not hate each other's guts." I almost face-palmed at that last notion.

"Oh right, you don't have any other Pokémon but your Fighting types, huh. Well, unfortunately for you, I have my Psychics to Teleport. I don't need to walk over there." He said.

"Well then, good luck to you!"

"No, good luck beating _Falkner_."

"Is that supposed to _imply_ something?"

"I guess you're too _dense_ to figure it out!"

"You two are just _awesome_ friends" I butted in.

"You think we're _friends_?" Mark rebutted.

"Okay, time out! Time out!" Isidora exclaimed, calming the two down. I'm the uncomfortable third party here. I had absolutely no clue what was going on here!

"Okay, I'm going to leave now. Getting across the Ruins takes a while. So good luck to you, Blockhead. If you see me and if your Pokémon are feeling better, let's battle. I still haven't repaid you for last time." He said before taking out a Kadabra and leaving the Pokémon Center.

"…So what's his deal, Sebastian?" Isidora asked him.

"I don't know, he's crazy." Well then. Guess no one could answer to that.

She looked around before the room, sipped on her coffee, and looked around again. Then she realized that she forgot about something.

"Hey, sorry, but I'm going to have cut this short. I forgot something at that you'll need, Sebastian. Anyway, thanks for staying, Arick!" she said and left. And with that, Sebastian and I were left alone. And the awkward returned.

That was until I got a call from the Chief of the station. I excused myself (wasn't too hard; Sebastian wasn't too interested on staying anyway) and took the call.

"Attention all Officers patrolling Goldenrod City; the gang that's been terrorizing civilians for the past few weeks are cornered at the entrance of the Global Terminal. There are hostages. Please arrive quickly!" Just as it ended, I hung up the omnipresent message and dropped my Pokégear.

I was stunned. In the end, I was wrong that Sebastian was part of anything, and in the end, I was getting distracted from patrolling. I was supposed to watch National Park today. And I can honestly say I did.

But I completely got caught up in here without going to the Global Terminal.

"Uh, is something wrong?" Sebastian was right behind me. He noticed my Pokégear on the floor and picked it up to return it.

"_No nothing. It's not like because of you, I got distracted and couldn't patrol where I was supposed to."_ I thought to myself. I regained my composure when I took the Pokégear back.

"The… The gang is at the Global Terminal." I let out weakly.

* * *

><p>Sebastian ran with me all the way there after picking up his Pokémon. I let out Douglass.<p>

"A Growlithe? Oh right, you're an Officer." he said in-between strides. His Hitmonchan was running alongside him.

"_I'm not going to be an Officer for long if I don't get there…" _More negative thoughts came to my head. Harry might be able to stay at Sprout Tower. He might have to shave his head and become part of it, but still. I'd go back to help out. But… I wouldn't be able to do what I wanted. Why I actually wanted to become an Officer in the first place!

To arrest Dad.

…

That's right. The money to pay for Harry's room was secondary. In truth I wanted to pursue Law so I can get to Dad, and arrest him. Arrest him for all the things that he took away from us.

With that on my mind, I began to sprint faster. Sebastian picked up the pace too. He said he was coming along, since apparently he blamed them for the mix up we had. Too bad it was _my_ fault for the mix up.

There was a crowd of people surrounding the Global Terminal. Many of the Officers there were trying to keep order between the civilians standing around, seeing if the hostages were somebody they knew. A large woman was wailing at the gang. Sebastian stood there, stunned.

"Let him go! Let Charles go! He- He didn't do anything!" she flopped around, a few Officers constricting her. I looked around, and the gang members, all in their late teens and maybe early twenties, started laughing. There were more than ten hostages on the floor, tied up.

They were all surrounded and had not much of a chance at escape, but apparently a hysterical mother was just hilarious to them. I clenched my teeth. I looked around the crowd some more. And I found the boys from this morning huddled around. Charles was their leader, I assumed. All the other boys whimpered and turned pale when they saw his distraught mother trying to fight the Officers to get to her son.

I looked around again and I didn't see Sebastian anywhere. So I sent Douglass to look for him.

I honestly didn't know what to do. There was a hostage negotiator around screaming from a microphone, but no one was paying attention. I wasn't paying much attention to anything, actually.

That was until I saw a few bubbles blow some of the gang members.

"The hell is this shit?" one said while swatting away some bubbles, prompting others to do the same.

But more and more bubbles were blowing in the coast. The area we were in was on the edge of a fenced in coastline. By a couple of minutes, there were hundreds of bubbles swallowing the whole area.

"Ivan, Hypnosis!" I heard a voice yell. And the voice came from inside of the Global Terminal. A Poliwag came running out, with its spiral swirling.

And I saw each of the bubbles reflecting the same spiral pattern. I started to get drowsy and almost fall asleep on the street before Douglass came out of nowhere to bite my leg. The pain (though it hurt like a little-) managed to keep me awake. I saw my fellow Officer's Growlithe do the same. I looked around, and the whole crowd of people was already asleep. And so were most of the gang members. Even the hostages were sleeping, while tied up.

Sebastian came with his Poliwag out afterward. I was awed. He subdued most of the gang.

Except one. He was bleeding slightly from the right arm, his left hand holding a knife. He quickly grabbed one of the sleeping hostages who I recognized as Charles, and ran inside.

The last gang member was cutting his arm to stay awake. That took some dedication. I looked around, and all the other Officers were taking care of the hostages and the sleeping gang members. Sebastian ran inside, and I knew I couldn't just leave him to take care of him by himself. The guy had a knife after all! As I walked in, I noticed the bubbles stop moving, and beginning to pop.

Inside, there was Sebastian, the man with the knife, and Charles, who was woken up from the sudden movement. I saw him pale and scared for his life. I saw Sebastian slightly unsure too.

And I didn't know what to do at all.

"C-Come on, let him… go, he's done nothing. You're, um, surrounded!" he tried his best to sound confident, but I could tell he was slipping. The man laughed. He put the knife against Charles' throat, prompting a squeal.

"We were supposed to break into the Global Trading Station and steal ourselves some Pokémon to sell to a bunch of Poachers... But this kid and his friends ended up seeing us and called for help. So why should I let go of him?" He spat venom at Charles, who just shuddered.

"Look, he's scared of his right now! Why don't you just get me as a hostage instead! You think you'll be able to negotiate escape with a crybaby, rotten, selfish, _degrading_ kid like that?" He wanted to keep insulting Charles, but he stopped. And he looked kinda red saying all of that during such an important time, which I could understand. Now, I started seeing some Officers coming into the building. I looked back at the man with the knife. He was thinking.

"Fine. This kid's useless anyway. Better give me a sweet deal for escape, kid." He said, letting goes of Charles, and making him wriggle his way to the nearest Officer.

"_Was the guy dropped on the head or something? Who the hell would fall for that?"_ My inner thoughts asked me.

Sebastian came up to the man with his hands raised and quickly exchanged positions that Charles was in before. The man placed his knife to Sebastian's throat too.

And almost immediately, the man fell to the ground after something hitting his back. A Hitmonchan fired another punch before Sebastian got out. He walked out covering his neck. The man was knocked out by the third punch.

I ran to the unconscious man along with other Officers. After they secured the knife away from him, I saw blood dripping from the knife. I quickly looked to his arm, and his wound stopped bleeding, making only one person the source of the blood.

"S-Sebastian!" I yelled, and ran over to him. He was crouched over with his Hitmonchan and Poliwag at his side. I removed his hand from his neck, fearing the worst. This kid might die right now if the cut was deep!

"Hey, it hurts, stop!" he yelled, but I made sure to see the wound.

And it looked nothing more than a paper cut. It was just a graze!

"You're such a wimp, you know that?" I sighed, and Sebastian laughed.

"I get that often."

* * *

><p>"Please hand over your badge, Officer Arick." Chief ordered.<p>

And I knew it couldn't be helped. I took my badge off and handed it over.

"No questions? Any at all?" he asked. I guess he was looking to scold me.

"I was instructed to patrol National Park and the Global Terminal. I failed to so the second, sir. And it just so happened that the Global Terminal became the target of the gang." I replied, evaluating myself. He sighed.

"There's not much to say now, is there then?"

"Do you want my K-9 back too?" I asked. If Douglass had to go, I'd have to have an hour of apologizing (and crying) to him.

"Negative. Growlithe don't usually bond with more than one Officer. Loyal Pokémon indeed." Well, I guess something went alright then.

"Alright sir, I'll be taking my leave."

"Please take care."

And with that, I went to National Park to cry. It just felt right. After all, I just lost my job. Douglass comforted me though. I guess a few licks made me feel better. He wagged his tail around, hoping to cheer me up.

"Thanks buddy. Sorry about losing that job though." I said, sadly.

"Grow!" he shook his head. This Pokémon was awesome. He saved me from falling asleep during the heist, and now is comforting me. I scratched him behind the ear.

"Um, hi Arick. I'm sorry about your job." I heard somebody say. I turned around to see Sebastian standing. He had a band aid on his neck. Suddenly I went from sulking to laughing.

"Seriously, you needed a band aid for _that_?" I laughed even harder.

"Hey, at least I saved people today, cut me some slack!" I stopped laughing. He didn't mean to say it the way I perceived it. But still, he was right. Sebastian and his Pokémon were the heroes of the day, not me. And I lost my job. Right.

He realized what he said.

"Oh… I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." He shifted his gaze nervously. I guess he wasn't such a bad person after all. Just attracted bad luck around him. I sighed.

"It's alright. I get to keep Douglass. The uniform too. I guess I'll be heading back to Violet City now; My brother Harry's staying there." I said. He looked at me.

"You're allowed to wear the uniform? Isn't that illegal? Im… Imper…" he tried saying.

"Impersonation?"

"That's it."

"Not really. I mean, as long as I don't wear the hat, I should be good. It's not like I have much right now anyway. No badge."

"Ah okay. Got it." He responded.

We stayed silent a little longer.

"You know something?" I asked to break the silence.

"Yeah?"

"You're not that bad."

"Um, thanks?"

I thought over it though. There was a thought that came to me. It was low, not very flattering, but it was for Harry. Yes, it was for Harry.

"You're going to Violet City too, right?" I asked. If things didn't go well, I was prepared for the guilt trip.

"Yeah. My sister wants me to run an errand for her there. Not to mention, I'm going to challenge Falkner. Why you want to know?" he responded. I was getting there.

"Would going together be alright with you? Douglass is strong for humans, but I'm not sure if we could get there on our own. Not much of a wilderness person." I said mareepishly. It was true regardless. We took a bus here with the other Officers from Violet.

Sebastian took a while to answer me.

"Okay, sounds good to me. I feel really bad over what's happened anyway." He said. And I could tell he was being honest.

"Alright, so to clear you from that guilt over making me lose my job, you're paying me _half of your prize money you get from battles._"

I said it. A breeze went over my head. It felt really cold without a hat.

"Wait, what!" he exclaimed.

And so ended my last day in Goldenrod; and so started my travels with Sebastian.

The in-training Blackbelt of Goldenrod City.

* * *

><p><strong>Got it done on time. Now to keep that pace. I thought last chapter was tough to write, but oh my god, it's harder to change perspective for a whole chapter! Not to mention I ended up stuffing a lot in here. But hey we see Mark again finally. How long before we see him again? RC welcomed, and honestly, each comment makes really motivated to get another chapter out. But most importantly, I broke 50,000 words. That alone makes me really proud of this chapter. Let's see if that pace can continue! **


	11. Tying Winds Together

"So you're sure about this?" Elder Lee asked me back.

"Yeah. I know that's kinda… random, but it's what I want to do." I replied. I finally got the nerve on asking.

"Well, it must have reason behind it. What about your brother?"

"…I'm not too sure, but I'll figure something out." Too bad I didn't have the slightest clue. I didn't know any other alternatives for Harry.

"You know, you've done a lot for the last few months. In fact, I've never seen anyone that young be so motivated. Please leave Harry in our care. Don't worry about us here."

Somehow that solved my dilemma. I was scared that this would all be for nothing, if Harry didn't have a place to go.

"Thanks Elder. I appreciate this. Thanks for taking care of us always." And it was the truth. Without the Sages at Sprout Tower, I'm not sure how long we would have lasted out there.

I walked out after excusing myself. I already had my application all set up and ready to go. I just had to tell everyone at the Tower. I hope they would take it alright.

I found Chris and Jumbo first, sweeping the floor of the second floor. These two would always be goofing off while I actually did the cleaning… Oh well. They were the first to hear my news. Jumbo was actually three years older than me, but he was the tiniest guy there. Chris was a year younger, but had been working here since he was round four years old, I think he told me. It was Chris who noticed me first.

"Hey, Arick! Wanna help us doing these chores? Jumbo isn't being much of a help here!" he said, jabbing at the smaller kid. I couldn't believe that Jumbo was three year older than me…

I was going to break the news, but I decided to help out one last time. Who know how much free time I'll have to go see them after I secure the job?

So I helped scrub the whole second floor spotless. I more or less got the other two guys to pick up the pace, not slack off, you know, the usual with them. After we were done (and after we rested), I decided to tell them of my new job.

"What?" Jumbo said sporadically. I couldn't blame him.

"But, you just got here a few months ago! Where's Harry going to stay?" Chris said, worried. I couldn't blame him either.

I told them about the deal I got with the Elder. They seemed upset with the news, but they wished me luck. Jumbo asked how long I was going to be gone for, and I told him I wasn't sure. The both decided to say their good-byes, and told me to hang in there. I was going to miss everyone's support.

And that's how I moved along each floor. Helping out the Sages, and giving my good-byes. A few of the even started to cry. I guess I ended up creating a lot of connections during the months here than I thought. I even said goodbye to some of the Bellsprout in the Tower. On the last floor, I was greeted with Harry. He came up to me as soon as I opened the door.

"Is it true, Arick? I get my own room?" Harry asked, beaming.

That's not it at all. He must have completely heard it wrong from someone.

"Harry… Who told you that? Yeah, you are getting your own room, but…" I dragged off at the end of my sentence. I guess it wasn't so far off. Harry would be getting his own room, after all. I sighed, and then went to pat his head. "Yeah, you are Harry. But it's because I'm going to be leaving the Tower to get another job."

"Victor told me. He said you want to become a Policeman now? That's so cool. Can I visit the station from time to time?" He asked me. He was so energetic. He became a high speed train. And now I had to step on the sudden brakes of the reality. Of course, I hadn't talked to Victor yet, so he'd come after Harry.

"… I'm not going to be stationed in Violet City, Harry. I'm going to Goldenrod. They pay a lot more than here, because there have been some problems there as of late." I told him. I clenched my eyes to hear his reaction.

"Oh. Okay Arick. Do your best!" he said. I opened my eyes to look at him.

"You're not upset about me leaving to go another place by myself?" I asked. I was surprised. I thought he'd be either wanting me to take him with me, or not going altogether.

"I'm not lonely here, you know. Everyone else will keep me company. And I still have the Elder to help run errands. It'll be okay, Arick! _I'll_ be okay. I know how hard you've been working for my sake, so I'm completely behind you on your decision!" he spoke. I think he wanted to say something else, but I got to him before he could let it out.

I hugged him close. He was the best brother. Even if Theo went around and became a totally new, honest, kind person, I'd pick Harry over him every time.

I went to talk to Victor after. He was the only one I hadn't talked to yet. His room was right next to mine and Harry's. I knocked on the door. After I'd talk to him, I'd pack my things to get ready to leave. I sighed thinking how much stuff I should bring. Harry and I shared a lot of things, so I needed to know what would be best to leave with him.

"Yo, Arick. What's up?" I heard Victor's voice ask. I didn't even hear his door open.

"I wanted to talk…" I replied, slowly.

There was silence.

"How long do you think you'll stay there?" He asked. I thought about it for a while before responding.

"Well, It's not like I'm leaving you guys forever, you know. I just have something in mind to do. Something that I'll need this job for." I replied. Victor gave me an unconvinced look.

"That's not what I asked. How long do you think you're leaving Harry and _us_ behind for?" he said, coldly. Was he upset that I was going?

"I don't know, Vic. My goal won't come to me on a silver platter, obviously. Goldenrod's got my biggest possibility though. So I have to do this. Harry and everyone else are supporting me." I said. The last part hurt him, I think.

"Well, fine. I mean, if you have to go, then go. But if you end up forgetting about us, I'll personally go over there and shave your head when it grows back. And I'll get rid of Harry's right after." He paused. I cringed. "So don't just forget about us, alright?" He softened up.

I looked at him.

"I won't"

And then I left the next day to the Violet City Police Department, and promptly filled the Transfer form to Goldenrod City. I met and was assigned to Douglass the Growlithe soon therefore after.

Everything was coming together. I just had to keep going towards my goal without forgetting about the guys at Sprout Tower and Harry.

But I wasn't going to lose sight of my goal to arrest Dad, either.

* * *

><p>I was woken up by Adonis' Karate Chop again the morning.<p>

"I'm up! I'm up Adonis!" And then woke everyone else up with my yelling. Arick lazily got up too. His Growlithe, Douglass, got up faster. Mars was already awake and got up now, but it looked like Ivan was still blowing bubbles in his sleep.

"What was that…?" Arick asked, still rubbing his eyes. I almost forgot that he was here when I was woken up.

"Adonis likes to wake me up early like that to uh… have some, uh, early morning wrestling!" There we go. Perfect response. Adonis gave me weird look before happily walking to wake up Ivan, who was up right after a light Karate Chop.

"Oh, that's cool. I'll just get my stuff ready while you guys do that." He responded before going to pick up his sleeping bag. I gave the excuse that we were going to wrestle so I didn't look like a lazy training Blackbelt. I didn't know much about martial arts or anything, so this wrestling that we've been doing for almost a month now was a pretty good alternative. I was catching up to Adonis by now, just a smidge short of winning if it wasn't him tripping me with a Low Kick.

We both came back sweaty and out of breath to find Arick already packed and ready to go.

Oh that's right; I forgot to mention that I had a traveling partner. His name was Arick, and he was the Officer that was harassing me for my full stay at Goldenrod. Well, former Officer. In the end he ended up getting me mixed up with some other delinquents in the city and he ended up losing his job when he missed his patrolling.

He used to live in Violet City from what he told me, so we're traveling together there. Walking along Route 36 was a lot easier than traveling though Route 37. There were less trees, and more solid paths.

There was quite the increase in Trainers around though. And what made it worse was the fact that I had to give away half of my money that I earned to Arick! It wasn't fair.

…

Alright, it was, considering that I became the reason I made him lose his job, but whatever.

What did bother me slightly was the fact that officers came to Goldenrod a good week after I left the city. I left because I was motivated to get more League Badges. It was because I wanted to stop being a wimp. But what if I stayed in Goldenrod for another week? Maybe the police would help me with my harassment? If I had done that, would I have never bother to travel and meet Ivan or Adonis?

I rolled my eyes thinking that. Each path I could have taken had value, but each one would lead me to something completely different. I stopped thinking though. I was enjoying traveling as a Trainer. I had a goal too.

"Hey Sebastian, you had something else to do in Violet, right?" I heard him ask while we kept walking. I looked at a sudden noise, but Mars was just pummeling a random group of Ratatta. I saw Douglass, Arick's Growlithe, getting into the fray too. I guessed with the proper support, Douglass wasn't as weak like Arick made him out to be.

"Yeah, sis wants me to help one of her acquaintances get something for her Pokémon." I replied. It was something about Julie's Marill. I didn't get many details, just an address.

"You have two Fighting types… aren't you at a disadvantage against Falkner? I never faced the Gym before, but I know plenty of people who have." He explained.

"I have Ivan to back me up. Though Adonis and Mars could take on Pidgeotto, if they tried hard enough I bet." I replied.

And we kept walking, discussing, getting to know more about each other. I mean, we were traveling companions now, so it would help avoiding those awkward conversations. I found out that Arick's going to Violet City to visit his brother, and some friends.

"Oh, how old is he? Your brother, I mean." I asked him. Well, he knew about Isidora already, but I couldn't say the same for his siblings. He looked out to the distance before responding.

"Well, he's eight. He's living with some of my friends right now. But I kinda have to make sure I pay some rent and some more money for him to buy things. I'm sort of that parent that doesn't get to see his child much." He glanced along the route, avoiding contact with some roots that we were walking on. I stumbled a lot, actually. I don't pay much attention to the ground. I came back to ask a follow up.

"Wait, you guys don't have parents? All by yourself?" I couldn't imagine that. It's always been Mom, Dad, and Isidora in our family. Apparently I gave Arick a tough question to answer. His body tensed up.

"My dad and older brother live in Viridian, and… I took Harry, my younger brother, to Violet City to get away… and…" He gave a face saying '_don't pry any deeper'_, so I stopped asking about his family status. But I did ask myself what about his mom, or why he left his family behind. He just left the sentence hanging, but I wasn't going to try to get him to finish it.

We stayed pretty silent after that.

It was around an hour now to Violet City, but I ended up getting challenged to more battles to lag us down. My first battle out on the road ever was against a kid that thought about heading east from Violet City after beating Falkner. The Trainers in this route I faced were just like that kid. They weren't weak, or they wouldn't have won a badge, but I realized that I had enough power to beat the fourth Gym Leader in the circuit. So honestly, it wasn't tough defeating the newer trainers.

What _was_ tough, however, was having to give Arick half my pay. When he held out his hand to get his share, I wanted to just slap it out of the way. But reluctantly, I handed it over. It was our agreement, after all. I did make sure to make it up by having more battles, though. On the bright side, my guilt went down considerably after each payment.

Soon enough, it would come to a person challenging Arick to a battle. And Arick tried talking the Trainer out of it, using _'I'm not a Trainer'_, but Trainer wouldn't have any of it. Arick glanced at me for help, but I decided to just casually back away, giving the two-opponents-to-be the proper space.

"Sorry, but I'd like to see it too, Arick. Haven't seen you battle once yet." I snickered. The other Trainer quickly ran to send out their Pokémon; an Ekans. Arick gave me a nasty look before walking, calling Douglass over, and taking the field. The Growlithe ran up to us, and looked at the Trainer and the snake Pokémon. Both Pokémon glared, trying to intimidate the other. I got Mars, Adonis, and Ivan to stop beating on the wild Pokémon to come watch with me. Ivan climbed onto my arms, while Adonis sat down. Eventually, Mars and I took his lead to find ourselves sitting comfortably on the path.

"Ekans, use Wrap!" the other Trainer called. It quickly slithered towards Douglass, and began its coil. Douglass tried to escape, but the Ekans was too fast and flexible to break off. I saw Arick beginning to panic.

"Doug… Douglass! Use Ember!" he commanded. It was a desperate attempt to break free. But it was effective. As the Fire Pokémon shot out small embers at the snake, it suddenly hissed and struggled to untangle itself from Arick's Pokémon. Arick soon began to grin seeing the Ekans slip away.

"Good job, Douglass!" Arick shouted, excitedly. I could tell he didn't get into battles much, but he was obviously enjoying the sensation of getting past an attack. I saw Douglass smiling from the praise and barking happily. Even wagged his tail some.

That changed when he was hit by a Gunk Shot from the Ekans. It was a fatal shot, and Douglass soon went down. Arick's face cracked, while the other Trainer was picking up his Ekans and swinging it out of joy.

What hurt me the most was seeing Arick give half of his cash away. _My_ hard earned money. Arick returned Douglass and looked at me. I was surprised. Gunk Shot, though? It was one of the strongest Poison type attacks. How did an Ekans from around here know something like that? I was curious enough to ask.

"Hey, Sebastian, don't you ever let me battle aga-"

"Hey, kid. How does your Ekans know Gunk Shot?" I pressed on. I cut Arick off, but I wanted to know this. I mean, if there were strong Pokémon like that, I should get one too, right?

"Huh? Oh, I just got him yesterday from a small breeder center. And he didn't even cost as much as the other places I've gone too! It's been selling Pokémon really low prices because their low on money. I think you might still get them on the sale though." He looked at Arick, who was still pouting over his loss. "And it's okay that you're weak. I'm just _too_ good." He beamed.

So I did the only reasonable thing, challenged him to a battle with Mars, and beat the arrogance out of the young Trainer. And I gave Arick exactly the amount that he lost.

"H-Hey, that wasn't fair!" the other Trainer tried rambling. I sort of lost it at this point. This Trainer was just like the rest I fought here. I had to say this at one point. These Trainers chose going west, when they could have gone through the circuit properly.

"You should probably head towards Azalea or something. It just gets tougher from here." I replied, getting my things ready to leave with Arick, who was waiting. He had Douglass' Pokéball out while he fidgeted around. I guess I would be too if I didn't have any Pokémon ready to battle.

I felt hypocritical when I recollected my thoughts about the whole thing of the "correct" circuit. But I couldn't turn back time now, could I?

"Well, I don't know why you're heading over there. The police are telling newer Trainers to go west instead of south. I'd love to go face Bugsy. And catch an Onix or something. And if it wasn't for the poachers near Union Cave, I would." He explained, shrugging his shoulders.

I looked at Arick, who looked intrigued by the statement. Then we went on our ways to the gates of Violet City.

Poachers, huh? I guess that explained that.

* * *

><p>We arrived at Violet City later that day.<p>

Arick showed me the way to the Pokémon Center, and gave me the directions to Sprout Tower where he was staying. And then tossed Douglass' Pokéball at me to give Nurse Joy. I just looked at him, tilting my head sideways.

"Are you really in that much of a hurry?" It seemed he was more in a hurry to get away from the Pokémon Center than go home.

"S-Something like that." He said. He was pretty nervous, but ran off before I could say anything else. I sighed. Then I walked in to be greeted by Nurse Joy.

I sat down to call Isidora and my parents through Pokégear at the Pokémon Center. It'd be best to tell them that we got here safe, right? I stopped to think, though.

I should find Julie first. I had the address and everything. I'd rather call them when I at _least_ reached Julie's house. I wondered what she would be like, or what exactly am I supposed to help her with. Isidora's never had an errand for me to do that so… not specific. Help her. With what, exactly? I sighed, and decided to wait to get the Pokémon healed.

Sitting by the tables at the Pokémon Center, there were some Trainers gossiping. They were relatively newer Trainers, I noticed. Then I mentally slapped myself.

"_I only have two Badges. I'm not an experienced veteran, who am I kidding?" _I sighed and decided to listen in. Just like in Ecruteak City's Pokémon Center. The group seemed to be fighting among themselves over something. It was four boys and a girl.

"Look, I want to go to Union Cave! I want to catch an Onix or a Geodude for Bugsy and Whitney!" One boy shouted another.

"No, you _look_. I'm not getting my brother and sister involved here. There's just no way that I'm going to expose them to danger like that." Another boy said, behind him a shorter boy and girl, who I assumed to be his younger siblings.

"You scared of poachers? Really? All of us have a Badge and Pokémon! I bet if we all went together, we could beat them easily." The first boy said.

"In case you haven't heard, they found corpses on Route 32. Wild Pokémon corpses. I don't think we could really go there without being traumatized for life." Another boy said. I heard the younger boy and girl whimper. I looked over and the other boy visually defeated.

And I would too. I mean, I heard about poaching out in the area from Goldenrod. Yeah, that's what the gang there was after; the Pokémon from the Global Terminal. It was to sell them to group of poachers out nearby.

Now, I'm not going to lie. I have seen a dead Pokémon before.

It was a Goldeen.

It was out on Route 35, just on my way to National Park one morning. It was just out on the road. I wasn't traumatized. I actually felt a connection with the dead fish. Yeah, it was a bad time. I was heading back home from a beating at National Park. Mars had already fainted and in his Pokéball, so I was walking alone when I spotted the dead Goldeen. I stared at it for a good half hour before deciding to pick it up and gently placing near a tree.

I dug a grave with a few sticks that were nearby on the ground. And I buried it. I remember I stayed by that grave for a good hour before getting back up to take Mars to the Pokémon Center. It was… me. Or a failed version of me. I could get through the downs of life, while this Goldeen couldn't. So I felt like I had to do the favor and make sure it got a proper burial. Well, as "proper" as a ten year old could.

I snapped back to reality when the Trainers began talking again.

"Look, we could get an experienced Trainer or something…" The boy tried suggesting. The rest of the group sighed.

"We're not going to Union Cave. If you want to go by yourself, then go, but don't get all of us caught in up in it!" the boy with the younger siblings yelled. The other boy swung at him.

And then the two boys began physically fighting in the middle of the Pokémon Center lunge. The two younger kids were crying, while the other boy tried calming the two down. I expected Nurse Joy to come rushing and making the fighting boys leave the Center, but I was wrong.

The front door of the Center opened and in came a blond girl. She was limping. She looked bruised, bloody, and very weak.

The boys stopped when she had collapsed two steps after entering. And like a bullet, Nurse Joy ran to the rescue, getting a Chansey to get her a gurney. I got up, and ran towards the site, along with the rest of the Trainers in the Center. After all, we never normally see a Trainer being this hurt here.

Everyone in the Center formed a circle around Nurse Joy, the girl, and the Chansey that retuned and helped Nurse Joy load the girl to the gurney. She looked around quickly.

"Please forgive us, but your Pokémon might take a little longer to heal!" she shouted, leaving to push the gurney to the back of the Center soon after with her Chansey. I looked at the girl one more time as she was being carried away. She had pretty messed up short, blond hair, though it was much darker than Arick's. Her clothes had some blood on them, with her right arm black and blue. I could see that she was assaulted and beaten. The first thought that came to my head was "_poachers_". And I wasn't the only one.

I turned to see the two boys that were fighting earlier staring at each other.

"I don't think I'll be heading to Union Cave now."

* * *

><p>I found Arick later on by the Sprout Tower ponds a good hour after I left the Center. Nurse Joy finally came out of the room, and ready to finish treating the Pokémon. I wondered what had happened to the girl, but no one was in the place to ask.<p>

Arick was with somebody else, someone who was way shorter than him, but had the same blond hair that he had, just longer. Arick noticed me, and ran up.

"Is it true? A girl at the Pokémon Center was attacked by poachers?" he asked, fretting. The younger kid, stared at me, but didn't say anything.

"I-I don't know. She just walked into the Pokémon Center, and she fell down unconscious a few steps in. Nurse Joy went to treat her. No one knows any more than us who saw her." I said. The episode was spreading around, it seemed. I remembered and took out Douglass' Pokéball from my pocket. I handed it over to Arick, who looked pleased.

"Thanks. I didn't want to go in there, since that Nurse Joy's given us problems before." He said, looking at the younger boy with us. Arick continued, "Oh, right. This is Harry, my little brother. Harry, this is Sebastian, the Trainer I'm traveling with." His eyes widened up.

"Ni-Nice to meet you! I always wanted to meet a Pokémon Trainer!" he said, excitedly.

"Uh, likewise?" I said, awkwardly. Arick coughed, and butted in.

"So, I guess it was just a rumor that she was attacked by poachers. You heard about them, right?" Arick asked me.

"Only about how they've been seen nearby Union Cave. And how people found corpses by Route 32." I responded.

"The police force is also advising Trainers to head west from here rather than to go south."

"Just like that the kid we faced earlier today said." I recalled.

"This is a problem, honestly." Arick said. Harry looked ignored, and faced me.

"How many Badges do you have, Trainer? Have you gotten Falkner's yet? What Pokémon do you have? What moves do they know!" he asked me. He had quite the energy. Unlike Arick.

"Uh, I have two, but I was going to challenge Falkner later. As for my Pokémon…" I took out my two Pokéballs and my Lure Ball, and sent out my squad. Three fully healed Pokémon were sent out, and stared at us. "These are Mars, Adonis, and Ivan." I said, pointing my Hitmonchan, Machop, and Poliwag accordingly.

"He's Training to be a Blackbelt, Harry." Arick informed him.

"That's so cool! Arick, when can I become a Trainer?" Harry asked. Arick looked strained.

"Um, you sure you want to become a Trainer? It's dangerous, you know." He said, looking at me, sweat dropping.

"You can be a Trainer when you have good experience with Pokémon. Have you ever handled any?" I asked. It really wasn't my place to ask.

"I've played around with some Bellsprout at the Tower, but… I've never battled with them." He said, embarrassed. I smiled.

"Well, try borrowing one to battle with. If you like it, then keep trying to train it. If you don't, but you still really like Pokémon, there are other things you can do that involve working together with them." I explained. It was nice. I was giving advice to a younger kid. I would definitely write that in my journal when I got the chance.

"Oh… Okay! I'll do that!" he beamed. Arick cracked a smile. I guess even if he was against it, seeing his brother excited made him happy.

"You run your errand yet, Sebastian?" Arick asked me.

"Oh, I forgot about that." I replied. Honestly, I went to the Tower first to see Arick and tell him about the girl in the Pokémon Center.

"Should we head over there now? Harry wanted to tag along before; he wanted to meet the Trainer I was traveling with." Arick said, Harry nodding. I sighed, smiling. The praise that younger kids gave can change the way you normally answer things.

I took out my Pokégear and found the address Isidora sent me.

* * *

><p>The address in mind was a breeding center. It was considerably smaller than a Pokémon Center on the outside, but it was still moderately big. Mars was beside me, demonstrating punches to Harry while Arick walked behind us. I knocked on the door, and we were greeted by a middle aged man.<p>

"Oh, you here for the sale? We've still got a few Pokémon left." He told us.

"Um, does… Julie live here?" I asked, awkwardly. The man nodded, called Julie down.

And out came Julie. My sister wants me to help her. Which was _very_ vague.

"Um, hello? You asked for me?" She asked, slightly excited. She nodded to her what I assumed to be dad, and he left without a word.

"You need help with something?"

I slapped myself mentally. That was even _vaguer_ than what my sister asked me to do. Still her eyes widened up.

"You're the one who sent that postcard then! This is great, please come in!" she announced, leading us in. Arick and Harry looked confused as I was. Mars looked up me, and gave a nervous grin, meaning "_No, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing_".

Julie showed us to a table. When we all sat down, I looked around.

It was really empty for a breeding center. It was almost disheartening. It was bare and only two tables here. I could some places that looked like they used to have rug and couches but…

Then I looked a Julie, who was getting us drinks. She asked what I wanted, and while Arick and Harry said they were fine with water, I forgot I wasn't at home and asked for lemonade for me and Mars. I saw Arick and Harry sweat drop. Julie left to get the drinks, and Arick kicked me.

"Didn't anyone teach you? You always either ask what they have, or just order water. You don't make your own request at a place you don't _even_ know!" he scolded me quietly. I think I turned red for second.

"S-Sorry. I don't usually visit other people."

"Here you go!" Julie said, coming back with two lemonades, and two waters. She turned around to take a seat next to Harry.

We said our thanks, and that's when I noticed it. She was holding a Marill the entire time, but no one noticed until it laid down on the table. Julie picked it up and set it her lap.

"The letter I got mentioned that someone was going to come to us and help us out. I guess you didn't send the card, since you didn't ask about Mari." She said, looking down at her Marill.

I nodded slowly.

"Well, let me give you the background. Mari's extremities are paralyzed. So is her tail. And we've been trying to cover for her treatments at rehabilitation, but they're really costly. Everyone in the family's been working a good three jobs to make sure we have enough money to eat, and help pay for Mari."

She paused. She looked really sad. She had green eyes, and a peculiar dark hair that looked almost purple in two long ponytails. I heard Harry ask what extremities are, and Arick replying that they were legs and arms. Julie continued.

"Well, apparently, there's an old tomb in the Ruins of Alph that has treasure in it. It's worth a lot, I've heard. So much that it would easily pay for Mari's treatments over the next couple of months." She further explained. I remained quiet.

"I know that you didn't write the letter, but… you're a Trainer right? Please help us. My whole family's desperate! This breeding center was the family business. But… but… we're making money now by selling it and the Pokémon for less." She started. She was getting desperate just talking. I had no idea that this is the help that Isidora wanted me to do.

But I felt compelled to. I stood up.

"Alright, I'll help out. When do we go?" I asked, grinning. And she soared up from her seat, Mari in arms, in disbelief. She had the look of determination take shape in her eyes.

"When you can prove to me that you're an able battle, of course." She said. Arick and Harry's mouths dropped, and Mars looked confused.

"… Huh?"

"Do you have the Zephyr Badge?" she asked me. And honestly, I was scared to say I didn't.

"Um, no, not yet. B-But I have the Plain and Fog Badges!" I said, fidgeting. I mean, since I didn't, would she just call everything off? I tried going to my bag to show her my other Badges, but she responded while I was in the middle. Harry looked at me, wanting to see them anyway, so I handed them to him.

"Perfect, let me go see that battle to make sure that I'm putting my faith in the right person." Julie said, finalizing the deal.

And so the four of us (after returning Mars) walked our way over to the Violet City Gym.

I decided to call Isidora after I won my Badge. More happy news to give the folks, right?

And while we walked, the thought of the girl at the Pokémon Center crept in my mind. I wondered what had happened to her, and whether or not it's stop us from going to Union Cave after I was done helping Julie.

* * *

><p><strong>Midterms. Finally done with them. And so this chapter gives some plot advances. As you can tell, things might start taking a turn to the worse later on. Yes, that means the poachers. On the other hand, the girl from the Pokemon Center is definitely staying, and will come up later on. But as we're heading to the Ruins of Alph, we'll be meeting up with a certain someone. Anyway, I took off the [Updates Sunday!] until I can get back to getting the chapters done on time. RC always does a fine job at motivation, and every email I get concerning Story Alert and Reviews make me really happy. So thanks for sticking it out!**


	12. Ruins of Conflict

I came back from the Department Store later that day. I was ready to show everyone home that I came back from my journey unharmed, even though it was a blatant lie. After an hour of just sitting around on the rooftop, I decided to come down and face my family. I had Jiggly hugged closely.

I knew what they were going to ask.

"_Hey, where's your Eevee?" _My imagination asked. I didn't want to answer it.

It was gonna happen one way or another. So I had to get my excuse together. I had Jiggly, Toby, Bella, and Lola to show them. I can distract them with Lola, since they haven't met her yet… but still. I didn't want to think about Apollo. Everything that reminds me of him makes me sad, uncontrollably so.

An idea then hit me. What if I can try to erase his painful existence from my family? Would that work? I've heard that if enough people believe in a lie, it becomes the truth. Yes. This is how I can start dealing with losing Apollo. Now what should I use as my excuse? Having him run away would make me look horrible. Having him get sick and die would be worse.

"What if I had to give him away?" I asked Jiggly, who had no idea what was going in my head. We were walking back home, and I saw that she was getting excited to see everyone after this long break. Last time we saw them was when I was going to challenge Whitney. But I've gone to Ecruteak, Mahogany, back to Ecruteak, to Olivine then crossing the sea to Cianwood. And only Ecruteak didn't fill me with crushing sadness. "Jig?" I heard Jiggly whisper to me, confused. I smiled, and dropped the subject.

But I continued thinking. If Apollo was given away, there would have to be a good reason for it. The first thought was that he could have been stolen by a poacher. But then they'd be getting into a whole mess over what they looked like, and I'd have to get the police involved. I didn't want that. But what about losing him in a bet to someone? I'd get scolded for treating my Pokémon poorly, but it'd be short. Right, short. Nothing like what I've gone through.

Jiggly was humming all the way home.

I took out the keys from underneath the doormat, just like I did before. Those set of keys I had when I left Goldenrod for the second time were lost on the way to Cianwood, along with my other personal belongings. I still had some of Kurt's custom Pokéballs though, which was good, I guessed. I didn't know how to feel about it. The whole journey was a depressing waste of time. A Lure and Heavy ball didn't exactly make up for it.

I felt slightly stupid when I walked in. First I sighed, then took out my three other Pokémon. Bella the Bellosom and Toby the Togetic recognized this place from before, but Lola the Corsola needed to be introduced. The pink coral Pokémon looked around curiously.

"This is my house, Lola. This is where we'll be staying from now on." I paused looking around. "My parents are out working, I guess, and my brother Sebastian's somewhere around." I continued. Sebastian's whereabouts weren't concerning right now. After all, he and his Tyrogue were always hanging out near National Park, so he'd come back. It was getting pretty late though. Lola looked around some more, eventually heading over to the sofa, and resting. Her pink horns were nice stubs now. I'm glad she didn't have any scars.

Toby and Bella followed her and they all quickly fell asleep. Only Jiggly stayed by my side, which was understandable. Everyone must have been tired. It's one thing to wait on the Department Store rooftop for hours, and actually being home and resting after a long journey.

That's right. It was a long, draining journey. I'm glad it's over. I looked over to my sleeping Pokémon. I rested my head on the table while Jiggly took out a snack from my bag.

"You know Jiggly, I was wrong. You guys were the best part of my journey, not some stupid Pokéballs." Jiggly gave me a smile, and I smiled back. After giving a yawn and getting up, I walked towards my room. I hadn't seen it in months, so I wanted to see if everything was the same, just like I told everyone I wanted it. I had my filled up journal from Violet City to here in my drawers somewhere. I wrote up a whole notebook in two months, which was slightly crazy other Trainers told me. I slowed things down and made the second one last much more, but I lost it along with my other things on the way to Cianwood. I thought a little on it.

"It's better that no one found it." I declared to no one. No one else was here other than me and my Pokémon. But I was wrong.

I heard someone move inside Sebastian's room, quickly and rushed. I walked over to greet him. I hadn't seen my little brother in months. I guess he didn't hear us come in.

"Hey Sebastian! I guess you didn't hear us come in-"

I stopped talking, and my eyes widened.

There was a small razor soaked in red on his counter. I saw Sebastian slowly sobbing. I looked over to his wrist, the place he was covering up hastily with a small handkerchief; it didn't work out as well as he had hoped. Anyone could see it red and gushing blood.

I screamed, while Sebastian's crying got worse.

* * *

><p>"I don't get it. You send me to do a really vague errand, but you really didn't have a clue how I should do it?" I asked Isidora over Pokégear. I heard her sigh, then giggle.<p>

"Sorry, but I knew that Julie needed money, so I sent her some magazine clipping about the Ruins of Alph treasure hunts lately to help her out. I kinda realized then that she couldn't go on her own, and since you were going to go travel, I think it'd be the best thing for you to learn to help others." She said. I sighed louder than she did.

"_Right_. I'm going to help her anyway, but… I wish you would have prepared me for what was coming up…" I suggested for next time. Would there be a next time? I kinda hoped there wouldn't be. "So I was going to go the Ruins of Alph after I get Mars and Ivan back from Nurse Joy. That battle surprisingly tuckered them out more than I thought." I continued. I reached into my pocket to look at the shiny new emblem I won an hour ago.

The Zephyr Badge.

"Sorry, Sebastian, I gotta go! Job interview time! If it goes well or not, I'll call back in an hour!" she said, hanging up. I sighed and put my Pokégear away.

"_Couldn't even tell her the story._" I told myself, shaking my head. Also, since when did Isidora actually apply for _jobs_?

I couldn't tell her how I went to the Gym last night and challenged Falkner. I couldn't tell her about when Mars was defeated by a Pidgey when it kicked an _endless_ amount of battlefield _sand_ until Mars couldn't see a darn thing. He just kept swinging randomly until he was tired out and defeated by a Tackle! Nor could I tell her how Ivan was sent out, and made sure to literally drown the bird in bubbles before knocking it down from above with a flawless Water Gun!

His Pidgeotto wasn't too much of an issue either. Ivan just put it to sleep with Hypnosis and began a flurry of Water Gun. It was fast, but I was surprised how fast my Poliwag was. My victorious shiny pin was placed with the other two badges. Of course the first Gym in the circuit was easy. Then I began thinking about the match coming up Azalea Gym. I almost started shaking until I saw someone walking towards me.

I saw Julie walking back, with a Pokéball and Lure Ball at hand. I didn't even ask her to bring them back. She was also handling a small booklet.

"Here you go! They're happy and healthy." She beamed. Was she being so nice because she wanted me to go out and help her faster? She took her bag that I was guarding for her, and she put the booklet away. I didn't really care what it was, anyway.

"Thanks." I said regardless. At that point I realized that I didn't feel comfortable with anyone handling my Pokémon without my consent. They were part of me, so I guess I'd feel possessive of them like I would another part of my body. I didn't tell Julie that though, I'd just keep a closer grip on them.

"So, why didn't your friends come into the Pokémon Center, was it because of me?" She asked, worried. I got a bit nervous. I didn't really handle questioning girls well. Other than Isidora, but I'm used to her and mom anyway.

"N-No, that's not it at all!" I had to think back why Arick and Harry decided to stay out and hang around the city. "Uh, I remember them saying that Nurse Joy has something against them. Something like that." I said. I did wonder what made them have tension with her, but I decided not to meddle.

"Well, unless you need anything else here, let's go meet up with them. Come on!" She said, before seeing someone in the corner of her eye.

I looked too. The difference was that I recognized that person's face, while Julie didn't.

It was the beaten girl from yesterday. She wasn't bleeding or covered in sweat or not even crying this time around. Some scabs and healing scratches though. She was in pajamas, covered in a blanket, at a table eating her breakfast, with a Chansey (most likely being one of the Pokémon Center's) sitting right beside her, keeping her company.

"Hey, isn't that the girl I've heard about? She was hurt by Poachers I heard. Because of her, they stopped people from going to Route 32 completely now." She said.

I remembered when she stumbled in, causing a scene when she collapsed yesterday. I think everyone in the Center at that time came to same conclusion I did over the Poachers, but it wasn't me who spread word of it. I guess that by what Julie said, after word of her went around, the police force stepped up in security over there. I hoped that wouldn't stop us from getting to Union Cave and Azalea Town later. I don't want to go through the Ilex Forest to be accompanied by bugs en masse.

But things looked kinda grim on that part. Would they let a kid with only three badges pass?

"Let's go outside now. It's only a little past noon. Mars and Ivan are feeling better, so let's go to the ruins." I said. Julie nodded, and took the lead when walking outside. Today felt like a good day so far. The win against Falkner gave me a good sign.

We met up with Arick and Harry outside. Douglass was playing with Harry while Arick was sitting on a bench.

"Those two really get along, don't they?" Julie asked. Arick nodded and smiled.

"Of course. Harry's always wanted to train Pokémon. Or just be around them. And Douglass likes playing with him too." Arick responded. I hadn't seen him be this happy on our trek over to Violet City. I guessed that he really did care about his brother. Arick looked back at us after calling both his Pokémon and brother back to us.

"Are we all set?"

* * *

><p>"Blockhead."<p>

"Psychic freak."

"Blockhead!"

"Psychic _freak_!"

"_Blockhead_!"

"Will you two just shut up already? You're too loud!" Arick's shouting surprised everyone. This was the second time he saw us fighting, last time being in the Goldenrod Pokémon Center.

Mark the Psychic was standing in our path to the ruins, frowning. Of course, he senses my presence quickly and starts something up. And I'm not going to take his insults in front of my party of three without retaliation. I heard Arick explaining our "relationship" to Julie and Harry in the background.

"Geez, couldn't you just ignore me when you find sense me nearby, Psychic?" I decided I wasn't going to call him Mark until he called me by my real name. And by the looks of it, it wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"I normally avoid the people I don't like. But today I was feeling my best after I caught a new Pokémon, so I could use someone to test him out. But what are you doing here, Blockhead? I thought you'd be the last person to go through a Psychic type area like these ruins." He told me.

"I'm helping someone find something here. Is that so much of a crime?" I barked back. I think after my win at the Gym, I became a little more aggressive than usual. But that's how egos work, right?

"Well, if your friends don't mind, I'd like to have a battle." He grinned. It was a malicious grin. Almost like he was using the audience as a reason I'd have to comply. That was the same logic as using hostages to get what you want, in my mind.

"Yeah Sebastian, go! You were great against Falkner, you can beat him!" Harry shouted encouragingly. Julie grinned along, and Arick looked impatient.

"Julie, you sure you want to go _after_ this? We could do the battle after…" I suggested. I was honestly hoping she'd want to go into the ruins as fast as possible.

"Nah. Actually I have a favor to ask you, Mr. Psychic." Everyone turned to her. Well almost everyone. Mark looked towards her direction, nothing more nothing less. I wondered what she wanted from him. "If Sebastian wins, could you help us find the treasure of the Ruins of Alph? You have Psychic types and know the area, right?" She asked him. And he nodded. I gasped slightly. I didn't want to face him right now.

"Sure, I'll agree to those terms, but I doubt that's going to happen. My Pokémon are in top form today, I'll have you know." He sneered at my way. "I'll make sure to beat _all of your Fighting types this time_, Blackbelt." I sharpened my gaze at him. It was pointless though. He couldn't see my expression anyway. But hey, he still called me Blackbelt over Blockhead this time, though. It was a start.

We all walked to a clear field of dirt by the entrance of one of the caves. The whole atmosphere felt ominous. The Psychic was in his home field, and I wasn't. It was starting to get cloudy above in the sky. If those weren't negative signs of the battle, I didn't know what were. Arick decided to judge for reasons unknown while Julie and Harry went to sit on some smooth rocks. Knowing that I had three Pokémon, Arick asked Mark if he was alright with a three-on-three match. Mark agreed.

After my audience was out, I decided to send the first Pokémon out.

"Mars, let's go!"

"Kinet!"

His Kadabra took the ready position stance while Mars was readying up for his second match of the day. This one would be tougher strength wise compared to Falkner's Sand-Attack abusing Pidgey.

"The battle between Kadabra and Hitmonchan may now commence." Arick said in a low voice.

His Kadabra started shooting different rays of Psybeam at Mars, catching both of us off guard. It even hit Mars a few times before the barrage ended. He didn't even tell his Pokémon to attack! It came to me quickly, and I had to make sure that Mars knew what was going on.

"Wait, he's a Psychic! Keep your guard Mars, they can communicate without talking!" I shouted, advising him. He grunted a "Mon!" before getting back to the battle. I saw Harry on the sidelines cheering on for us, while Julie was keeping a close eye on the battle. She looked really happy seeing us fight.

I told Mars to use Bullet Punch. After all, no matter how fast the Kadabra may be, Bullet Punch was guaranteed to be faster. And it hit the Kadabra right in the face.

"Good job, now don't let it get back up with another Bullet Punch!" I ordered. I'm glad that Mars managed to learn Bullet Punch. He would have had such a hard time with just Mach Punch. Mars went back to the Kadabra and began to pummel it into the ground. I looked at Mark and he looked frustrated.

He looked at me and spat on the ground. His Kadabra was left unmoving on the ground, and Mars decided to back away. Everyone thought that the round was over.

"Um, Kadabra's unable to ba-"Arick began to say, but Mark stopped him.

"Kinet, now!" He yelled. His yell was the first words he's used during the match, and it shook Arick off and made him unable to finish his judgment. The Psi Pokémon vanished into thin air, appeared behind Mars, teleported again when it was spotted, and the cycle started. It was using Teleport to confuse everyone. Even I was getting dizzy.

Mars started to flail around throwing wild punches everywhere in an attempt to hit his target, but it didn't work.

And I knew it wouldn't work. Not because the Kadabra was impossible to hit, but Mars wasn't going to concentrate right. This is how we lost to a Pidgey at the Violet City Gym. Losing twice in one day because of the same principle was not going to slide right past me this time. Mars was better than that. I wasn't going to let him lose again.

"Mars, settle down and concentrate!" I yelled. Mars was still punching the air as the Kadabra moved, moved, and moved some more. It was a tricky situation. I decided to yell even harder to get his attention. I saw Harry's face look strained, and Julie had a stern gaze. Arick was trying to keep an eye on the matter at hand, but he was having trouble seeing the Kadabra even more so than Mars.

"Chan!" Mars responded back. My shouting was a success. The Kadabra continued to use Teleport, and Mars was pretty tired from his punching by now.

"Mars, concentrate!" I tried to tell him. He closed his eyes, unsure. "Mars, I know you can get a hit, remember when you woke up when you needed to beat his Drowzee just when we needed to? I know you do! Now come on and show everyone that you're strong!" My campaign to winning continued. Mark stopped grinning. He looked like he was telling his Kadabra to close in.

The Kadabra stopped right in front of Mars this time, and quickly began to Teleport again. Mars didn't move. I wondered why he didn't strike. I saw the opponent blur out of sight again.

The Psychic type reappeared behind Mars now, only this time it was met with a strong Bullet Punch at point blank range in the face. Everyone looked onward to see the Kadabra go down without getting up. Harry started cheering, and I grinned. Mars turned around to smile.

"Just like that, Mars."

"Chan." He nodded.

"Kadabra's unable to battle!" Arick announced after checking that the Psi Pokémon wouldn't get up this time for sure. Mark stayed quiet and sent out his next Pokémon after returning his Kadabra back into its ball.

"Jumanji, you're up!" He said, as he threw his next Pokéball. I expected another Pokémon like his Kadabra or his Drowzee, but I was surprised. And Mars started laughing on top of that.

It was a small, green bird, no bigger than Mars' boxing glove. It had small wings, small talons, and a _creepy_ stare.

"That's my new Pokémon, Jumanji. He's a Natu. If you thought that a Psychic type was trouble, you'll love that he's not just that, but a Flying type _too_." Mark smirked. I could sense that the small bird Pokémon, Natu, was sneering too. Except that I couldn't confirm it because of its unchanging staring expression.

"We can beat it!" I challenged. Only I wasn't too sure. After all, it was _two_ types that Fighting types dreaded. I wondered if there was a Psychic, Flying, Ghost Pokémon out there somewhere. I'd rather not think about it though.

"Uh, the battle between Hitmonchan and Natu may begin!" Arick declared.

"Jumanji, use Night Shade!" Mark commanded. I didn't know what to expect. It was a Ghost type move. The third type that our little team would always dread. The small bird started hoping over to Mars. He was cautious, but he wouldn't do anything. It was like the small thing was scaring us or something. I had to break us both out of that trance.

"Mars, hit it with Bullet Punch!" I shouted. It wasn't frantic just yet. We just needed to let it know that it didn't scare us.

It was creepy to us, sure. But it didn't scare us. No way.

The Natu Teleported out of the way before Mars could aim properly. Then it reappeared right below him. And it struck with some sort of image that I couldn't comprehend. The important part was that Mars was in so much pain from it that he was down despite our whole encouraging speech we had a few minutes ago.

I returned him as Arick announced the Natu as the winner. I was still happy he managed to stop panicking when he couldn't touch the opponent now.

"_Sand-Attack, Teleport, try coming at us now_!" I thought to myself.

I sent out Adonis next. He wasn't as fast as Mars, or even Ivan, but I knew he was easily a sturdy Pokémon that could take a Night Shade.

"Adonis, I'm counting on you!" I told him. Fighting types needed to get pumped up before battles with their Trainer's support. I learned that at Ecruteak. Or rather, I was taught that at Ecruteak.

"Chop!" he reassured me. We weren't going to lose to the same little bird twice! Arick called out the score and let the match between Marks's Natu and Adonis commence.

"Adonis, wait for it get to you!" I yelled out. If it was coming to us anyway, there was no point of charging. Reckless attacking wasn't going to be our strong point this match, by the looks of it. And I was right. Adonis stayed still while the Natu hopped, teleported, and reappeared behind Adonis.

"Use Peck!" I realized that Mark was commanding his Pokémon out loud this time around. I guessed it was because his Natu was a fresh catch. Either way, it should have been easier to deal with than his Kadabra. The Peck attack still hit, and Adonis winced in pain. But that was supposed to happen.

"Turn around and use Payback, Adonis!"

The Tiny Bird Pokémon was hit in the face with a super effective move and was knocked back _far_. I saw Mark look surprised.

"It's not like we're completely helpless against types we're at a disadvantage at, Psychic." I grinned. I saw Mark grin even wider though.

"I thought that might have been a reason you told your Machop to stay behind. Don't worry though; Jumanji was the Natu I picked from his flock because of one reason." He looked at his Natu who started to hop back into the field. It was hurt, but still standing. "Jumanji, get far away from it and use Roost!" he shouted. I rarely got to see him get all hyped for a battle, but still.

The Natu hopped off to an area that Adonis was too slow to reach quickly enough. They must have realized that Adonis wasn't the fastest on the team. It began to glow while closing its small wings tightly around its small body.

I wondered what it was doing until Mark got me and Arick up to speed while Julie was telling Harry.

"That's Roost. Bird Pokémon can get tired flying all the time, so they land to rest. That's what Roost is. Jumanji is healing himself." He said. It was a clever and simple way to explain it. It was still horrifying though. That meant that if I was going to beat that psychic bird, Adonis would have to hit hard, fast, and not let it recover.

It hopped over again towards Adonis; then began teleporting. At this point I felt like all Pokémon that teleported to get around were as annoying as flies. It was just so hard to catch them off guard.

"Alright Adonis, don't lose track of it! Hit it with another Payback!" I advised him.

The Natu was prepared this time, unfortunately. The Tiny Bird teleported right past Adonis' swinging arm, and got to his blind spots.

"Use Peck, and don't let it lay a finger on you!" Mark demanded. And his Pokémon went through with the action. Strike after strike and Adonis was down. I thought that I was able to take down both Psychic and Flying type Pokémon by now, but it looked like we still had a long way to go.

"Machop is unable to-"Arick began saying before being interrupted. For the second time in the match, mind you.

Adonis started to move though. I screamed like a little girl to myself. He looked back at me with sure grin.

"That's right Adonis, there's no way you could lose! Go and hit it with another Pa-"

The Natu used Teleport again instead. This time it reappeared right above Adonis and quickly used Night Shade. Adonis went down a second time, only this time he wouldn't get back up. I sighed and returned Adonis back into his ball.. And it was his first battle of the day, too. Arick announced the current score while I picked my only Pokémon left.

"Ivan, don't let me down!" I called. The small bird came into view of my equally small tadpole. Both of them looked at each, unflinchingly staring into each other's souls. Or something like that. Both had quite the stares in my opinion.

"A Poliwag? Aren't you supposed to be a Fighting type Trainer?" Mark barked at us. Ivan blew some bubbles around, and I just giggled.

"Oh come on now, don't tell me you're scared of my sweet little Ivan now right?" I taunted. Seeing Ivan and Jumanji having a stare down at equal level heightened my confidence in him.

"Natu and Poliwag's battle may now commence!"

"Ivan, Water Gun!" Taking the offensive was going to be our key. Ivan was way faster than Adonis. He shot a stream of water at the Natu, hitting straight across. And so, I was right. Ivan was too fast for it to Teleport out of the way.

"Even if it's not a Fighting type, we'll take it down. But first, use Roost, Jumanji!" Mark shouted. The Natu hopped out of the way to teleport towards the outskirts of the battleground getting ready to rest.

But weren't going to let it do that the second time. I ordered another Water Gun from Ivan, which swept the Natu off the ground and into a rock.

"Now finish it off with a Doubleslap!"

After a few hits, the Psychic Flying type went down.

"Natu is unable to battle!" Arick announced. I saw him smile a bit. Harry continued cheering while Julie looked relieved. It's like they were expecting Ivan to lose or something.

"Good going Ivan!" Harry shouted. Ivan jumped around happily blowing bubbles.

"_And no words for Ivan's Trainer, huh? That figures…"_ I thought to myself. Whatever.

"I won already. We can stop now." Mark said, nonchalantly. Everyone fixed their gaze at him as he returned his Natu. He looked towards Arick, then to Julie and Harry, and finally towards me. "My conditions were defeating your Fighting type Pokémon with my Psychic types. I don't have any interest in beating a Water type that wasn't part of the program. I'll be going now." He finished. Me and Ivan started to walk up towards him.

Julie was the one that stopped him though.

"Hey! Psychic, Sebastian hasn't lost the match yet! Don't just throw the battle before it ends!" she yelled at him. Mark turned around to meet her face. "And plus, you're going to help us find some treasure when Sebastian beats you." She smirked. I laughed inside. _She_ was taunting _him_. I heard Mark groan right after.

"_Fine_. Let's get back to doing this, Blockhead. I won't go easy on you though." He declared, annoyed. Julie jumped with joy before walking back to where Harry was, while Arick went back to resume the battle. Ivan and I walked back to our spots.

"Remy, don't lose!" Mark said, calling out his Drowzee. It was the same Drowzee that Mars and I went up against during our first outing to Route 37. It felt like such a long time ago since I last saw it. It didn't matter though. We were going to beat it. After all, it would make Mark help us find the treasure. And making a long outing like that be shorter would really help us out.

"Just like before, Ivan. We can take them!" I encouraged him.

"The battle between Poliwag and Drowzee, begin!" Arick called out.

"Ivan, Hypnosis!"

"What?"

Yeah, I was going to give back the move that gave Mars and I trouble during out first battle. Ivan managed to easily run up to the opponent and lulled it in for a deep sleep. Catching Mark off guard was pretty worthwhile it too.

The Drowzee was fast asleep, so I ordered a barrage of Water Gun to pin it down. Ivan was having a field day today. From beating both of Falkner's Pokémon, to beating a Natu that defeated both Mars and Adonis, to giving a licking to Mark's Drowzee… I was really glad to add Ivan to the team. Mark's face looked like he was trying to communicate with his Drowzee via telepathy, but it wasn't working.

In the end we won when I told Ivan to use Doubleslap one last time. It fell down, and Arick declared us the winner.

Mark came up to us.

"I still won that. I made sure to beat your Fighting types like I wanted to. Your Poliwag beating Jumanji and Remy doesn't mean anything." He said. I was thinking to myself about calling him out as a sore loser, but I decided that I was going to bear with it for Julie's sake.

"Alright sure. Great. So shall we go to the ruins now, Mr. Psychic?" Julie appeared out of nowhere to coerce Mark into coming along with us.

"You were great, Sebastian! When I become a Trainer, can you teach me all of your strategies?" Harry said, while putting me on a pedestal. I remembered about what Arick said, so I didn't want to say yes, but...

The praise made me feel great.

Arick came by and told us the time. It wasn't too late, but we needed to start moving soon if we wanted to get the treasure by today. Luckily with Mark joining us, we should be good.

* * *

><p>We reached one of the caves soon enough. The evening sun was slowly starting to set.<p>

"Go, Houdini." Mark said, releasing a Pokéball. I guess he had more than three Pokémon like I did. Doesn't matter though, I already won.

"Houdini" was a clown like Pokémon that looked creepy in its own way. Mark's Kadabra and Drowzee were pretty emotionless like their Trainer, and his Natu was just creepy embodied. But this one had such a friendly smile on its face that still _unnerved_ me. Mark looked at me, and smiled a bit. "Houdini's a Mr. Mime. Don't worry though, we're done battling today. Now, please use Flash." Mark asked his Pokémon. It created some orbs of light that soon lit up the cave and the ruins in general. He explained to us that he just sent out Houdini to light the ruins up _for us_. I was going to ask why not him, before I remembered he was blind.

"Hey Arick, why haven't we ever come in here with the Sages?" Harry asked his older brother.

"We didn't have any Pokémon on us. And plus, haven't they taught you anything in there, Harry? Self-discipline and whatnot. You can't always go around doing what you want!" Arick scolded him. Julie giggled, and so did I. Mark kept walking ahead. Harry moaned a little and complained he sounded just like an Elder Lee.

"You sure you know where we're going, Mr. Psychic?" Julie asked him. I guess I'd be a little cautious too. But I had Ivan in my arms. When we got back, I'd have to heal up Mars and Adonis.

"There's a room nearby that I felt _something_. Psychic type presence. I guessed that if there were a lot of Psychic types somewhere, there must be something they're guarding or something." He reasoned. And it did make sense, so we didn't ask further.

"Here it is. Now be careful just in ca-" Mark said before falling down. We rushed to help him up, but he did himself with the help of Houdini while telling everyone to back off.

"What happened?" I asked. After all, he just hit something and fell down.

"The presence was beyond that… wall." He said, rubbing his face.

Oh right, he was blind.

We looked further and Arick spotted something.

"Hey is that supposed to say something? Over there." He pointed. Houdini shone some light towards the wall while it said something. It was a bunch of weird symbols that I couldn't understand.

"That's Unown writing. These ruins are pretty famous because of them. I was prepared for this." she said, taking out a small booklet from her bag. It was the same booklet she left the Pokémon Center with. She opened up the book to a page, and inspected the writing. She looked back and forth from the booklet to the wall many times before telling us what she discovered.

"It says 'Light'" She said. It took her a while before taking a guess. "Hey Mr. Psychic, mind telling your Mr. Mime to shine some light directly at the wall?" she asked him. He nodded to his Pokémon and light was directly struck at the wall. Everyone heard something move. But the wall didn't break open or anything. In fact, it just stayed shut. Julie sighed loudly.

"Guess that didn't work…"

"Where did Harry go?" Arick questioned. Everyone's attention was beamed at the fact that Arick's little brother wasn't with us.

"Harry, where are you?" We all began to question. Arick must have been scared out of his mind.

"I'm right here, geez!" We heard a high pitched voice call out. We all walked out to find Harry near a stone tablet. It had a few panels lying around.

"It's a puzzle!" Harry exclaimed, excitedly. I looked further, and say that he was right. It was a large panel of parts that needed to be fitted together. But each part had some sort of deisgn on them. Some lines, wavy lines, something that would make an image together if placed correctly.

"So I guess we need to figure this thing out before getting anywhere, right?" Arick asked. Julie nodded slowly.

"Well, you guys wanted to find treasure or something, so let's get this over with fast." Mark responded. He looked at Houdini and pointed at the stone pieces.

And through a Psychic's manipulation the stone pieces were being shifted, rotated and placed until a correct image was seen.

"That's a… What is that thing called again?" Harry asked. It was kinda cute. I wish I had a little brother.

But no, I was stuck with Isidora.

"That's a Kabu-" Julie was cut off by Mark.

"Kabuto. An ancient Pokémon that currently only has fossil remains. Any ones people see now are living fossils that were resurrected from rock. There were some traces of energy coming from it, so I could figure out what it was trying to be a puzzle of." He explained. Ivan blew some bubbles and started vibrating in my arms. I thought he fell asleep by now or something.

"Yeah, that." Julie said, annoyed. I would be too if someone took my explanation.

Suddenly there was a loud shaking in the ground, and I saw something collapse under our feet. Arick quickly pushed Harry and Julie out of the way while Mark, Houdini, Ivan, and I fell into a deep hole under us.

The last thing I heard was Arick screaming our names before everything went dark.

* * *

><p>"Blockhead. Get up already!" Mark said, waking me up. I was still feeling groggy. Then I felt something slapping me across the face multiple times in a rude wake up call.<p>

It was Ivan's Doubleslap leaving my face red and puffy.

"He-Hey!" I yelled.

"It's about time, Blockhead." Mark said, annoyed at me. Ivan looked worried, and Houdini was still emitting light from its gloves.

"What's going on, where is everyone else?" I asked. We were underground, separated from the others. I just remembered.

"The floor collapsed and we fell in. We gotta leave somehow." He explained the situation to me pretty briefly. I guessed that he would have preferred falling down with _anyone_ but me.

"Can't you just use one of your Psychics to Teleport us out?" I asked him. It was at least a shot at getting out of here.

He shook his head.

"Only Kinet and Jumanji know Teleport. And both of them are still too weak to Teleport all of us out." Suddenly, the situation looked pretty grim.

It only got worse though.

"We're not alone, Blockhead." Mark said. My blood chilled at his words. We were separated from everyone else at vacant ruins. Things didn't look good. "There are three of them." Mark furthermore said.

I saw our obstacles at the corner of the wide room we were in. Three large, green Pokémon materialized out of nowhere.

I screamed like a little girl this time around. Ivan suddenly jumped out of my arms and ran in front of me. Houdini did the same for Mark.

"What? What are they, I can't identify them!" Mark shouted at me. I guess he couldn't recognize who our three enemies were here.

But I did. Only my cries would be loud enough for the large green bugs with big scythes.

Scyther.

* * *

><p><strong>And we're back to another installment of A Belt That Fits! After a long two month hiatus, I'm happy to say that I now will be getting back to regular updates! Thanks to everyone who haven't lost interest in the story. Things are getting sort of close quartered now for Sebastian. Of course being with Mark isn't going to get any better. And Scyther in the Ruins of Alph? All of the situations will be done and over with next chapter, as well as the last part of Flashbacks. Please look forward to it! RC being one of the favorite parts of the story still hasn't changed, so please do! **


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